LI  B  RAR.Y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 


3 


0 


. 


MEMOIR 


GEN.  A.  C    DUCAT. 


CHICAGO: 

RAND,  McNALLY   &   CO. 
1897- 


:B 

3>U  2.4-2.  Tin  XH,W;&     HK.WM     Su-rve^ 


PREFACE. 

It  was  the  wish  of  General  Arthur  C.  Ducat, 
definitely  expressed  some  time  before  his 
death,  that  a  record  of  his  life,  both  civil 
and  military,  should  be  prepared  for  his  family 
and  for  distribution  among  his  personal 
friends  here  and  in  his  native  country.  In 
fulfillment  of  his  request,  the  following  me- 
morial has  been  compiled,  largely  from  the 
General's  own  papers,  and  the  writer  trusts 
that  this  imperfect  sketch  of  a  strong  and 
many-sided  personality  may  yet  commend 
itself  to  those  best  qualified  to  judge  of  its  fi- 
delity to  the  original,  and  to  impart  from  their 
own  inner  remembrance,  life  and  color  to  this 
silhouette  of  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  the  sagacious 
man  of  business,  the  gallant  soldier,  the  loving 
parent,  and  the  true  and  faithful  friend. 

"As    when    a    painter,    poring    o'er    a    face, 
Divinely  thro'  all  hindrance  finds  the  man 

Behind  it,  and  so  paints  him  that  his  face, 
The  shape  and  color  of  a  mind  and  life, 

Lives  for  his  children,  ever  at  its  best 

And  fullest." 
-- 

"Lindenwald,"  September,  1897. 


ARTHUR  CHARLES  DUCAT. 


CHAPTER    I. 


PARENTAGE  AND  EARLY  TRAINING. 

Arthur  Charles  Ducat  was  born  at  Glena- 
garry,  near  Kingstown,  County  Dublin,  Ire- 
land, February  24th,  1830.  He  was  the  young- 
est of  four  children  of  Mungo  Murray  Ducat 
and  of  Dorcas  Julia,  his  wife.  The  Ducat 
family  had  its  origin  in  the  Scottish  Highlands, 
but  this  particular  branch  had  long  been 
settled  in  Forfarshire.  Mungo  Murray,  a  scion 
of  the  house,  after  completing  his  education  at 
the  University  of  St.  Andrews,  and  studying, 
without  practicing,  law  for  some  time  in  Edin- 
burgh, went  over  to  Ireland,  where  he  thought 
he  could  more  easily  realize  his  ambition  to 
own  a  landed  estate  and  lead  (to  him)  the 
ideal  life  of  a  country  gentleman. 

There,  in  the  gay  capital  of  Dublin,  he  first 
met  the  lady  who  afterwards  became  his  wife, 


Dorcas  Julia,  the  bright  and  accomplished 
daughter  of  Captain  Atkinson  of  the  English 
Navy — one  of  Nelson's  officers,  who  fought 
by  his  side  in  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  and  there 
lost  an  arm, — where  the  hero  lost  his  life. 
Strong  is  the  power  of  heredity,  and  it 
was  doubtless  to  this  parentage  that  Arthur 
Charles  Ducat  owed  that  blending  of  Saxon 
sagacity  and  Celtic  dash  and  daring  which  all 
through  life  were  salient  features  of  his  char- 
acter and  potent  factors  in  his  successful  busi- 
ness career. 

Shortly  after  their  marriage  the  young 
couple  settled  at  Glenagarry,  a  leasehold  prop- 
erty, overlooking  Kingstown  Harbor,  where 
they  resided  for  a  number  of  years  and  where 
all  their  children  were  born.  Some  years 
after,  Mr.  Ducat  also  purchased  a  long  lease 
of  Turvey  Place,  a  fine  old  Elizabethan  de- 
mesne in  Dublin  County,  a  few  miles  from  the 
city.  The  house,  with  its  long  stone  front, 
is  picturesquely  situated  on  high  terraced 
grounds,  sloping  gently  down  to  rich  pastures 
and  shady  woodlands.  Here  Arthur  Charles 
Ducat  commenced  his  education  with  a  pri- 
,vate  tutor  under  the  wise  supervision  of  his 
father,  who  combined  his  love  of  out-door 


life  and  field-sports  with  the  tastes  and  habits 
of  the  student,  and  made  it  an  unvarying  rule 
to  spend  at  least  two  hours  of  every  day  in 
his  library.  A  small  but  choice  collection  of 
pictures  adorned  the  house,  and  in  this  atmos- 
phere of  literary  and  artistic  culture  the  Ducat 
children  passed  their  early  years. 

Newlawn,  another  leasehold  property,  which 
Mr.  Mungo  Ducat  added  to  Turvey  Place, 
was  also  for  a  time  the  family  home.  There 
he  died,  in  1842,  leaving  his  extensive  lease- 
holds to  be  cared  for  by  his  widow, — but  very 
little  clear  property  besides  to  support  a  fam- 
ily brought  up  in  luxury  and  refinement. 
This  sudden  change  of  fortune  had  the  inevit- 
ably unsettling  effect  on  young  Arthur's  char- 
acter and  career,  and  it  is  not  surprising  to 
see  in  the  next  few  years  the  chaotic  elements 
of  a  strong  nature  constantly  warring  with 
itself  and  with  those  who  sought  to  lead  and 
control  what  they  did  not  understand.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  Messrs. 
Findlater  &  Co.,  merchants  in  Dublin  and  old 
friends  of  his  father,  but  one  year's  trial  con- 
vinced both  him  and  them  that  not  that  way 
lay  success,  and  greatly  to  his  own  relief  and 
no  doubt  to  that  of  his  worthy  employers,  he 


8 

was  released  from  his  indentures  and  again 
resumed  his  studies  at  Belmont  College.  There 
he  spent  two  years,  taking  a  mixed  course  of 
classics  and  mathematics  with  special  atten- 
tion to  civil  engineering.  But  again  the  rest- 
less spirit  rebelled  against  the  trammels  of 
civil  life,  and  in  a  fit  of  disgust  or  impatience 
he  enlisted  in  the  army  as  a  private  in  the 
Duke  of  Cambridge's  own  Regiment  of  Lan- 
cers, where  his  fine  physique  and  natural 
military  bearing  made  him  a  welcome  recruit 
and  soon  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of  his 
superior  officers.  Rapid  growth,  however  (he 
was  then  over  six  feet  in  height),  had  for  a 
time  weakened  his  fine  constitution;  and 
threatening  symptoms  of  pulmonary  disease 
compelled  him  to  apply  for  his  discharge, 
which  was  reluctantly  granted,  and  with  great 
regret  he  left  the  service  which  by  nature  and 
inclination  he  was  eminently  fitted  to  adorn. 
"But  there's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
rough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

Resolved  to  be  no  longer  dependent  on  his 
widowed  mother's  slender  resources  he,  after 
a  weary  period  of  inaction,  baffled  in  his  re- 
peated efforts  to  win  freedom  and  independ- 
ence, resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  new 


9 


world.  He  sailed  for  the  United  States,  work- 
ing his  passage  before  the  mast,  partly  from 
economy  and  partly  from  a  love  of  adventure, 
and  landed  in  New  York  October  28th,  1850, 
with  very  little  money  in  his  pockets,  but  gifted 
with  a  clear  head,  a  light  heart  and  the  indom- 
itable will  that  recognizes  difficulties  only  to 
overcome  or  circumvent  them. 

CHAPTER    II. 


BEGINS  LIFE  IN  AMERICA. 

Arrived  in  New  York  and  having  a  good 
theoretical  knowledge  of  civil  engineering, 
and  being  determined  to  put  that  knowledge 
into  practice,  he  had  little  to  do  but  to  look 
about  him  to  find  employment.  The  year 
1850  was  almost  the  first  year  of  extensive 
railroad  construction  in  this  country.  It  was 
then  just  beginning  in  the  southeastern  por- 
tion of  New  York  State,  and  thither  Mr. 
Ducat  went  and  soon  obtained  his  first  re- 
munerative work  in  the  new  country.  There 
he  remained  but  a  few  months,  when  he 
learned  that  railroad  building  on  a  yet  more 
extensive  scale  was  projected  in  the  West,  and 


10 

that  civil  engineers  were  greatly  in  demand 
there.  He  had  heard  and  read  much  of  the 
West,  and  was  convinced  that  in  that  part  of 
this  immense  country  lay  his  prospective  for- 
tunes. 

Full  of  courage  and  hope  he  started  for 
Chicago — a  long  and  tedious  journey — and 
at  that  time  an  unsightly  and  insignificant  city 
of  about  twenty-eight  thousand  inhabitants. 
It  had  not  a  mile  of  completed  railroad — its 
small  commerce  was  all  done  on  the  lakes  and 
canal — but  long  lines  of  railroad  were  pro- 
jected, and  on  some  parts  of  them  surveys 
were  actually  being  made.  One  of  these  was 
the  Fox  River  Valley  Road,  and  with  the 
company  that  had  this  project  in  hand  Mr. 
Ducat  engaged  to  go  out  as  one  of  a  survey- 
ing party. 

With  the  assurance  of  steady  and  profitable 
employment  he  decided  to  bring  over  his 
mother,  sister  and  brother.  His  intention  to 
meet  them  in  New  York  was  nearly  frustrated 
by  the  failure  of  the  company  to  pay  him  his 
salary  when  due.  But  chancing  to  be  in  Ken- 
osha,  Wisconsin,  where  was  lying  at  the 
wharf  a  vessel  destined  for  Buffalo,  which  was 
waiting  for  a  wheelsman  to  be  secured,  Mr. 


11 

Ducat  volunteered  to  fill  the  vacancy,  was  ac- 
cepted and  safely  steered  the  vessel  to  Buffalo, 
thus  securing  a  free  passage  to  that  city  and 
sufficient  remuneration  to  carry  him  to  New 
York  in  time  to  welcome  his  mother  on  her 
arrival  in  the  new  world.  This  anecdote  is 
given  as  an  illustration  of  his  filial  devotion 
and  the  indomitable  energy  of  his  character 
even  in  early  years.  Returning  immediately 
to  the  West,  he  settled  his  relatives  at  Belvi- 
dere,  Illinois,  and  then  went  back  to  his  sur- 
veying. From  the  Fox  River  Valley  Railroad, 
the  entire  line  of  which  was  now  nearly  lo- 
cated, he  changed  to  the  North-Western  Rail- 
road, with  his  headquarters  at  Racine. 

CHAPTER    III. 


FIRST  FIVE  YEARS  IN  CHICAGO— IN- 
SURANCE. 

It  was  in  1856  that  Mr.  Ducat  decided  to 
settle  permanently  in  Chicago,  where,  both 
from  personal  and  business  qualifications,  he 
had  already  secured  many  valuable  connec- 
tions. His  first  appointment  was  as  assistant 
to  Mr.  Julius  White,  an  insurance  agent  and 


head  of  a  feeble  Board  of  Underwriters.  The 
energy  and  ability  with  which  Mr.  Ducat  dis- 
charged the  duties  attached  to  his  office  soon 
brought  him  into  prominence.  His  position 
naturally  led  him  to  take  great  interest  in  the 
City  Fire  Department  and  brought  him  into 
contact  with  its  chief,  Silas  McBride,  who  at 
that  time  labored  under  great  disadvantages 
in  the  working  of  his  department,  having  only 
volunteer  firemen,  and  engines  worked  by 
hand.  Both  McBride  and  Ducat  were  con- 
vinced that  to  secure  the  safety  of  Chicago  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment should  be  reorganized  and  the  recently 
invented  steam  fire  engines  at  once  obtained. 
The  next  year  increased  life  was  found  to  have 
been  infused  into  the  Board  of  Underwriters, 
and  it  was  determined  to  reorganize  it  on  more 
extended  lines.  Mr.  Ducat  was  elected  Sec- 
retary and  Surveyor  and  so  was  in  position  to 
have  practically  the  control  of  the  board's 
business.  He  was  the  first  secretary  and  sur- 
veyor to  give  his  entire  time  to  the  duties  at- 
tached to  those  positions.  He  did  more — he 
continued  his  efforts  to  improve  the  Fire  De- 
partment, considering  it  part  of  an  under- 
writer's business  to  secure  an  efficient  fire  ser- 


13 

vice.  In  1857  a  great  fire  in  the  then  busi- 
ness center  of  the  city  came  opportunely  to 
his  assistance.  The  consequent  loss  of  life  and' 
property  roused  the  interest  of  the  citizens  as 
to  the  best  means  of  averting  a  similar  calam- 
ity in  the  future.  The  introduction  of  two 
steam  fire  engines  precipitated  a  revolution  in 
the  Fire  Department  and  brought  on  some- 
thing like  a  riot  in  the  streets.  The  volunteer 
firemen  were  not  willing  to  give  up  their  hand- 
working  machines,  and  they  had  many  friends 
who  sympathized  with  them  to  the  point  of 
forcible  resistance.  The  entire  police  force  was 
barely  able  to  prevent  a  general  uprising  and 
Mr.  Ducat  was,  for  a  time,  the  most  unpopu- 
lar man  in  the  city,  but  undeterred  by  ill  will 
and  opposition,  he  still  urged  the  necessity  of 
reorganization  and  improvement  of  the  Fire 
Department. 

The  loss  of  goods  from  exposure  to  the  ele- 
ments and  depredation  of  thieves  in  the  great 
fire  of  1857  was  in  excess  of  anything  before 
known  in  Chicago,  and  served  as  a  challenge 
to  the  insurance  companies  and  the  Fire  De- 
partment to  meet  like  perils  in  the  future  by 
some  new  and  adequate  arrangement.  Mr. 
Ducat  proposed  to  organize  a  salvage  corps, 


14 

but  as  the  name  did  not  please  he  called  it  a 
Fire  Brigade.  This  move,  too,  was  angrily 
opposed  by  firemen  jealous  of  their  customary 
privileges,  and  to  some  extent  by  citizens  who 
regarded  with  disfavor  any  change  in  the  old 
order  of  things.  Mr.  Ducat  had  to  stand  in  the 
breach,  and  carry  his  measure  by  sheer  force 
of  will.  To  will  he  added  enthusiasm.  Other 
citizens  contributed  money;  the  city  officers 
consented;  and  the  Fire  Brigade  became  an 
assured  organization.  Mr.  Ducat  was  elected 
the  first  Captain,  and  he  took  command  with 
military  promptness  and  handled  his  men  as 
though  they  were  all  soldiers  whose  destina- 
tion was  the  battle  field.  The  brigade  was 
very  successful  in  protecting  property  endan- 
gered by  fires,  and  both  the  insurers  and  the 
insured,  and  finally  even  the  firemen,  gave 
Mr.  Ducat  the  credit  which  was  justly  his  due. 
He  was  now  in  position  to  attack  the  whole 
organization  of  the  Volunteer  Fire  Companies, 
and  it  was  plain  that  public  opinion  was  at 
last  on  the  side  of  the  modern  system  of  a 
paid  fire  department  under  responsible  di- 
rection. The  change  was  advocated  before 
the  council  by  Mr.  Ducat,  among  others,  and 
the  council  acted  on  the  advice,  but  some- 


15 

what  reluctantly;  the  old  firemen  were  "good 
fellows,"  some  of  them  were  rich  and  influ- 
ential, and  their  organization  died  hard.  At 
last  the  city  had  a  proper  and  full  equipment 
of  defense  against  fires,  her  citizens  could, 
with  all  confidence,  accept  the  guaranties  of 
the  insurance  companies,  and  Mr.  Ducat,  hav- 
ing striven  hard  and  accomplished  much,  was 
now  at  liberty  to  give  exclusive  attention  to 
his  duties  as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters. He  thought  deeply  on  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  underwriting,  and  evolved  ideas 
and  plans  that  were  new,  if  not  startling,  to 
a  good  many.  The  need'  of  the  profession, 
as  well  as  the  interest  of  the  people,  was  uni- 
formity of  rates,  definite  classification,  and  a 
settled  order  of  surveys — this  was  his  firm 
conviction,  after  long  pondering  on  the  sub- 
ject. He  made  his  conclusions  known  and 
they  were  opposed  by  many  underwriters  and 
regarded  with  suspicion  by  large  numbers  of 
insurance  companies. 

Undeterred  by  opposition,  wherever  he 
could  find  hearers  he  stated  his  views  and  en- 
forced them  with  arguments  which  ultimately 
brought  conviction  to  the  minds  of  the  ma- 
jority of  underwriters.  It  was  not  so  easy  to 
win  over  the  companies. 


16 

During  the  year  1858  he  found  leisure 
apart  from  his  official  duties  to  write  a  book 
on  insurance.  It  was  published  in  the  follow- 
ing year  and  at  once  ranked  as  an  authority 
on  the  subject  and  it  is  apt  to  surprise  those 
outside  of  the  circle  of  underwriters  that  so 
much  could  be  said  and  said  so  well  on  the 
subject.  It  had  an  Extensive  sale  —  four 
editions  were  called  for  in  rapid  succession; 
and  it  was  everywhere  accepted  as  authority 
in  the  business.  It  is  just  as  much  an  authority 
at  the  present  time,  as  is  shown  in  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  continuous  demand  for  it. 

Progress  was  made  towards  scientific  meth- 
ods, but  still  there  remained  a  busy  minority 
of  underwriters  who  persisted  in  the  go-as- 
you-please  way,  and  would  on  no  account  give 
up  the  policy  of  scattering.  This  minority 
appeared  to  be  growing,  and  Mr.  Ducat  began 
to  doubt  if  the  Board  of  Underwriters  could 
much  longer  be  kept  together.  But  one  pos- 
sible attempt  he  had  not  essayed — he  had  not 
tried  systematically  to  bring  over  the  insur- 
ance companies.  He  was  well  and  favorably 
known  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  with  courage 
he  went  thither  alone  and  laid  the  entire  case 
before  every  one  of  the  companies  that  was 


17 

doing  business  in  Chicago.  His  visit  resulted 
in  a  complete  triumph,  and  the  following  reso- 
lutions were  signed  by  the  officers  of  all  the 
principal  insurance  companies  of  New  York, 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut: 

"At  a  meeting,  held  this  day,  of  the  various 
insurance  companies  interested  in  and  doing 
business  in  the  City  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  the 
following  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopt- 
ed and  ordered  signed  by  said  companies: 

''Resolved,  That  the  companies  here  repre- 
sented highly  approve  of  the  action  of  their 
respective  agents  in  Chicago  in  forming  an 
association  for  sustaining  the  rate  of  premium 
on  fire  risks  in  that  city,  and  feel  great  pleas- 
ure in  acknowledging  the  wisdom  and  dis- 
cretion exhibited  in  the  classification  of  risks, 
and  the  various  additional  charges  enumerated 
in  the  Chicago  tariff. 

''Resolved,  That  the  maintaining  the  Chi- 
cago Association  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  mat- 
ter of  vital  importance  to  the  agents  them- 
selves, and  decidedly  to  the  interests  of  the 
various  companies  transacting  business  in 
that  city;  and  that  we  each  agree  to  require 
from  our  respective  agents  to  adhere  strictly 
to  all  the  rules  and  rates  defined  in  said  tariff; 
and  the  stipulations  connected  therewith. 
2 


is 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  agree  to  give  to 
the  board  above  named  a  notice  of  at  least 
thirty  days  before  we  withdraw  from  the  ob- 
ligations we  assumed  above. 

"Resolved,  That  we  regard  the  existing 
union  of  all  insurance  agents  in  Chicago,  and 
all  the  companies  represented  by  them  in  the 
association  for  sustaining  uniform  rates,  as  a 
subject  for  congratulation ;  and  we  gladly  rec- 
ognize the  able  agency  of  Mr.  Ducat,  the  sec- 
retary of  the  board,  in  procuring  this  desir- 
able result." 

These  documents  Mr.  Ducat  submitted  to 
the  board,  and  they  have  been  carefully  pre- 
served and  bear  this  general  endorsement  in 
Mr.  Ducat's  own  handwriting: 

"All  the  above  signatures  were  procured  by 
me  as  above  set  forth.  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  Sec- 
retary and  Surveyor,  Chicago  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters." 

He  felt  a  just  pride  in  his  achievement,  and 
from  that  day  onward  the  board  stood  firm 
and  united  against  all  hostile  comers.  In- 
stantly all  objections  were  silenced;  every 
form  of  dissension  ceased. 


19 


CHAPTER   IV. 


FIRST  YEARS   OF   SOCIAL   LIFE   IN 
CHICAGO— ST.      ANDREWS      SO- 
CIETY—HIGHLAND GUARDS.     . 

Arthur  Charles  Ducat  possessed  a  highly 
social  nature,  but  not  all  socially-inclined  per- 
sons were  permitted  to  know  of  its  depth  and 
breadth.  Some  thought  him  distant,  if  not 
haughty;  others  deemed  him  exclusive,  and 
nearly  all,  at  times,  found  him  reserved  in 
manner.  But  he  recognized  no  lines  of  social 
distinction  among  his  worthy  acquaintances. 
He  was  never  a  society  man  in  the  ordinary 
acceptance  of  the  word — but  always  welcomed 
the  company  of  his  friends  whenever  he  had 
leisure  to  enjoy  it.  Among  his  friends  were 
many  Scotsmen  who  afterwards  became  highly 
successful  business  men  and  some  of  them 
distinguished  in  public  life. 

About  this  time  he  joined  the  St.  Andrews 
Society  and  formed  there  friendships  which 
he  cultivated  and  retained  through  all  the 
years  of  his  life  in  Chicago. 

Another  organization  composed  wholly  of 


20 

Scotsmen,  of  which  he  became  a  member,  was 
the  Highland  Guards,  a  fine  volunteer  mili- 
tary company  of  the  early  days  of  Chicago, 
which  was  the  pride  of  all  resident  Scotsmen 
and  one  of  the  boasts  of  the  city. 

Engrossed  in  business  as  he  was,  ambitious 
of  the  distinction  which  success  in  business 
gives,  he  yet  found  time  for  reading  and  for 
efficient  membership  in  literary  associations 
and  societies.  He  took  no  part  in  minor  pol- 
itics, but  in  large  public  questions  and  in  emi- 
nent men  he  was  greatly  interested.  He  knew 
Senator  Douglas  personally,  but  he  believed  in 
Lincoln ;  and  when  Richard  Cobden  or  Smith 
O'Brien,  or  any  other  foreigner  of  distinction, 
visited  the  city,  he  was  sure  to  be  found  among 
those  who  called  to  pay  their  respects. 

The  books  which  he  read  in  those  times 
were  many  of  them  works  on  military  science 
and  strategy.  Perhaps  there  was  something 
in  the  atmosphere  of  the  years  just  preceding 
the  Civil  War  to  induce  him  to  take  up  such 
studies.  At  all  events  he  did  give  his  mind 
to  them;  and  also,  at  the  same  time,  took  in- 
creased interest  in  the  discipline  and  drills  of 
the  Highland  Guards.  A  short  time  after- 
wards it  was  seen  that  he  had  been  all  along 


21 

a  soldier  in  preparation  for  active  and  impor- 
tant service. 


CHAPTER    V. 


HIS  EFFORTS  TO  GET  INTO  THE 
ARMY— FIRST  SERVICE. 

The  moment  that  the  news  of  the  hostile 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter  was  received  in  Chi- 
cago, Mr.  Ducat  resolved  to  personally  en- 
gage in  the  war,  which  was  then  seen  to  be 
inevitable.  He  had  been  for  rather  more  than 
a  year  a  member  of  the  Highland  Guards,  as 
engineer,  and  something  like  a  staff  officer  to 
the  captain.  War  meetings  were  the  order  of 
the  day,  and  one  of  the  first  war  meetings  held 
was  notified  that  the  Highland  Guards,  under 
Captain  John  McArthur,  were  actively  pre- 
paring to  tender  their  services  to  the  Govern- 
ment, as  soon  as  the  expected  call  for  troops 
should  be  made.  The  meeting  received  the 
notice  with  approving  cheers  and  then  for- 
mally "Resolved,  That  this  meeting  approve 
the  course  taken  by  the  Highland  Guards  to 
place  their  company  in  an  efficient  and  avail- 
able condition,  and  that  we  extend  to  them 


22 

our  hearty  co-operation  and  sympathy,  and 
recommend  the  young  men  of  the  city  to  en- 
roll their  names  in  that  or  some  similar  or- 
ganization." Further,  the  meeting  proposed 
to  give  financial  aid,  and  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  represent  the  people,  which  was  partly 
selected  from  the  company  and  partly  from 
the  citizens,  as  follows:  A.  C.  Ducat,  Major 
Wallis,  A.  A.  Wylie,  J.  Lyle  King,  and  S.  B. 
Perry.  The  preparations  went  on  rapidly; 
but  the  call  for  troops  soon  came — there  was 
hurrying  of  volunteer  soldiers  from  every  part 
of  the  State,  to  the  capital,  more  than  could 
be  accepted,  and'  the  Highland  Guards  were 
told  to  wait. 

Mr.  Ducat  was  not  in  a  waiting  mood,  and 
he  determined  to  try  an  independent  move- 
ment, in  the  line  somewhat  of  his  former  pro- 
fession. He  raised  and  enlisted  a  corps  of  en- 
gineers, sappers,  and  miners  of  three  hundred 
men,  all  of  them  engineers  by  profession,  or 
soldiers  of  experience  abroad  in  that  branch 
of  military  service.  Many  of  them  came  from 
a  great  distance,  some  of  them  from  the  ex- 
tremes of  the  country,  to  enlist  in  this  corps. 
It  was  a  fine  body  of  men,  and  its  leader  hoped 
that  the  Government  would  put  it  to  important 


23 

uses.    He  first  tendered  it  to  the  Governor  of 
Illinois;    it    was    rejected.      Next    he    made 
a    tender    of    it    to    the    General    Govern- 
ment;   again  it  was  rejected,  but  the  refusal 
was     accompanied     with    compliments    and 
thanks.     Still  he  was  not  discouraged.     His 
friend  McArthur  had  been  called  to  Spring- 
field   and    commissioned   as    colonel    of    the 
Twelfth  Illinois  Infantry,  then  just  formed  of 
companies  from  various  parts  of  the  State. 
Here  was  his  opportunity  at  last.   He  at  once 
hastened  to  Springfield    and    volunteered  in 
Colonel  McArthur's    regiment  and    was  fry 
that  officer  appointed    regimental    adjutant. 
He  soon  after    succeeded  to  a  vacant    lieu- 
tenancy in  Company  A,  one  of  the  Chicago 
companies,  and  later  became  first  lieutenant, 
retaining  the  adjutancy  at  regimental  head- 
quarters. 

May  zoth  the  regiment  marched  out  of 
Camp  Yates  at  Springfield  over  eight  hundred 
strong  and  was  transferred  by  rail  to  Casey- 
ville,  Illinois,  a  station  on  the  Ohio  &  Mis- 
sissippi Railroad  near  St.  Louis.  The  duty 
here  was  to  guard  about  sixty-nine  miles  of 
the  railroad  east  of  that  city  and  to  maintain 
an  out-post  of  forty  men  at  East  St.  Louis 


24 

in  communication  with  the  Union  forces, 
under  Colonel  Blair  and  Captain  Lyon,  across 
the  river.  The  service  at  Caseyville  was  very 
useful  to  the  regiment  as  exercise  and  prepa- 
ration for  the  more  serious  conflicts  that  were 
to  come.  In  this  work  of  discipline  Colonel 
McArthur  had  an  efficient  assistant  and  the 
regiment  a  conspicuous  example  of  soldierly 
activity  in  Adjutant  Ducat. 

One  of  the  first  labors  of  the  Adjutant  at 
Caseyville  was  the  laying  off  of  the  encamp- 
ment. The  region  was  a  pleasant  one.  From 
the  edge  of  a  bluff  at  the  left,  looking  west- 
ward, one  saw  cultivated  farms  here  and  there 
in  the  valley,  separated  by  streams  bordered 
with  broad  belts  of  forest.  Beyond  these  and 
beyond  the  unseen  Mississippi  could  be  dis- 
cerned the  distant  spires  of  St.  Louis.  The 
camp  named  by  Colonel  McArthur,  Camp 
Bissell,  was  set  upon  high  and  undulating 
ground,  and  the  easy  slopes  over  which  the 
men  had  traced  its  regular  streets,  were  man- 
tled at  that  season  with  a  smooth  elastic  turf 
— Kentucky  blue  grass  speckled  with  blos- 
soms of  white  clover.  This  natural  lawn  cov- 
ered all  the  clear  spaces.  Better  parade  and 
drill  ground  regiment  never  had. 


25 

June  3d,  1861,  the  regiment  left  Caseyville 
for  Cairo,  via  St.  Louis,  by  steamer.  At  Cairo 
the  term  of  enlistment — three  months — ex- 
pired. Meetings  were  held  among  the  men 
and  the  question  of  re-enlistment  discussed. 
With  few  exceptions  the  regiment  re-entered 
the  service  for  three  years. 

Lieutenant  Ducat  was  commissioned  as 
Captain  of  Company  A.  In  this  more  respon- 
sible position  Captain  Ducat,  as  always  before, 
did  his  full  part.  The  Government  having  de- 
cided to  put  an  end  to  the  attitude  of  neutrality 
assumed  by  the  authorities  of  Kentucky,  Gen- 
eral Charles  F.  Smith,  with  a  command  of 
western  troops,  including  the  I2th  Illinois,  was 
ordered  to  seize  and  occupy  Paducah  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River.  This  impor- 
tant movement  was  promptly  accomplished. 
In  August,  1861,  the  regiment  went  into  camp 
at  Paducah  near  the  Marine  Hospital  as  a  part 
of  General  Smith's  division  and  under  that  of- 
ficer's command  joined  in  the  demonstration 
in  the  rear  of  Columbus  during  the  battle  of 
Belmont.  A  vacancy  having  about  this  time 
occurred  in  the  majority  of  the  regiment  Cap- 
tain Ducat  was  appointed  to  fill  it.  He  was 
with  the  regiment  in  the  reconnoissance  of 


26 

Fort  Donelson,  and  also  in  the  battles  of 
Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  in  the  following 
February. 

While  riding  along  the  lines  with  Colonel 
McArthur  and  other  officers  across  some  open 
ground  near  one  of  the  out-works  of  Donel- 
son Major  Ducat  had  the  distinction  of  being 
the  first  man  in  the  regiment  hurt  by  the  en- 
emy's fire.  Several  shells  were  sent  in  rapid 
succession  and  a  fragment  of  one  stunned  and 
dismounted  him,  but  fortunately  the  injury 
proved  slight  and  he  immediately  returned  to 
duty  and  was  in  command  of  the  left  wing  of 
the  regiment  a  day  or  two  later  in  the  battle 
preceding  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  army. 

For  his  gallantry  at  Donelson  he  received 
honorable  mention  in  the  report  of  the  general 
commanding.  That  winter  this  division  of 
the  army  was  not  aggressive,  and  Major  Ducat 
spent  some  of  his  time  in  instructing  the  sol- 
diers in  both  defense  and  field  tactics.  In 
April,  1862,  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-col- 
onel. The  command  proceeded  to  Clarks- 
ville  and  Nashville  under  General  Grant  in  a 
general  forward  movement.  It  was  in  the  op- 
erations at  Pittsburg  Landing  and  in  the  ad- 
vance on  Corinth. 


27 

Up  to  this  point  things  had  gone  well  with 
him;  he  had  received  three  promotions  which 
he  valued,  and  was  conscious  that  he  was  at- 
tracting more  and  more  the  notice  of  his  su- 
perior officers. 

He  was  appointed  to  a  staff  position  which, 
as  it  would  interrupt,  if  not  finally  prevent  his 
further  rising  in  rank,  was  not  fortunate.  At 
the  time  he  was  no  doubt  gratified;  but  be- 
fore very  long  he  realized  that  it  was  no  favor 
that  was  thus  done  him. 

He  was  attached  as  senior  officer  on  the 
staff  of  Major-General  E.  O.  C.  Ord;  he 
served  in  that  capacity  at  the  battle  of  luka 
and  after  until  Major-General  Rosecrans  took 
command  of  the  army  at  Corinth  and  ordered 
him  to  his  staff  in  command  of  grand  guards 
and  outposts.  At  the  severe  battle  of  Corinth, 
and  in  the  subsequent  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
he  served'  as  senior  aid-de-camp,  and  received 
warm  congratulations  from  the  general  com- 
manding, not  only  for  bravery  in  the  field,  but 
for  military  efficiency  before  and  during  the 
battle  and  pursuit.  He  was,  while  in  pursuit 
and  on  the  return,  sixty  consecutive  hours  in 
the  saddle,  with  the  exception  of  short  halts 
while  writing  dispatches  or  changing  horses, 


28 

an  achievement  which,  regarded  as  an  in- 
stance of  physical  endurance,  stands,  it  is  be- 
lieved, alone  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war. 

A  war  correspondent  of  a  New  York  news- 
paper furnished  an  erroneous  account  of  this 
incident,  which  Colonel  Ducat  corrected  as 
follows : 

"How  untrue  are  the  anecdotes  of  history; 
and  if  history  is  in  part  to  be  made  up  from 
anecdotes,  how  untrue  is  history!  For  in- 
stance, this  paragraph,  picked  up  by  a  news- 
paper man  somewhere,  I  presume  from  a  third 
or  fourth  telling,  is  in  few  ways  correct. 

"What  are  the  facts?  After  the  battle  of 
Corinth,  and  returning  from  the  pursuit  of  the 
enemy  from  Ripley,  Mississippi,  I  was  in  the 
advance  of  the  staff,  with  my  orderlies  and  two 
or  three  officers  of  my  own  department.  It 
was  my  duty  to  make  a  reconnoissance  of  the 
bridge  in  front  over  the  Hatchie  River,  which 
I  did  in  person,  on  the  gallop,  and  there  being 
about  ten  to  fifteen  feet  (I  never  measured  it) 
of  planking  out  of  the  rickety  old  wooden 
structure,  my  horse,  a  thoroughbred,  'Red 
Oak,'  jumped  it.  Lieutenant  Lyford,  next 
after  me,  jumped  it,  but  Colonel  Kennett,  who 
came  third,  went  through  the  hole,  as  well  as 


29 

two  orderlies,  into  the  river,  which  luckily  was 
not  over  four  or  five  feet  deep,  but  deep 
enough  to  break  the  fall,  and  no  damage  was 
done  but  the  ducking,  and  all  had  a  hearty 
laugh.  We  shouted  to  the  General  and  bal- 
ance of  the  staff  with  the  escort  of  cavalry  to 
go  down  the  river  two  miles  to  a  ford,  which 
the  topographical  map  indicated,  and  to  come 
up  on  our  side  of  the  river.  I  thought  I  would 
take  a  snooze  in  the  interim,  so  getting  some 
rails  from  a  rail  fence,  and  slanting  them  in 
comfortable  form  I  unstrapped  my  blanket 
and  horse  blanket,  and  wrapping  myself  and 
horse,  laid  down  with  my  arm  through  the 
bridle  and  was  fast  asleep  in  a  minute  or  two. 
"When  General  Rosecrans  came  up,  he 
found  me  there  in  this  position,  and  it  was  he 
that  took  me  by  the  collar  and  jerked  me  upon 
my  feet  and  said,  'Ducat,  get  on  your  horse; 
he  has  been  pawing  your  face,  and  we  can- 
not leave  you  here  all  night  in  the  swamps 
with  the  enemy's  cavalry  within  two  miles  of 
us.'  I  had  ridden  sixty  consecutive  hours, 
which  is,  I  believe,  as  long  as  any  ride  of 
record  in  the  United'  States  Army,  and  replied 
to  General  Rosecrans  in  a  dignified  way  that 
as  a  rule  he  knew  I  obeyed  orders,  but  it  being 


30 

my  horse  and  my  face  I  declined  to  obey  now, 
and  desired  to  be  left  alone.  The  result  was 
that  I  was  left  there  and  slept  until  long  after 
daylight  the  next  morning;  got  upon  my 
horse,  followed  the  trail,  fell  fast  asleep  on  my 
horse  again,  and  was  only  awakened  by  his 
going  into  a  stream  to  drink,  when  the  over- 
hanging boughs  of  a  beach  tree  knocked  my 
hat  off  and  came  near  dismounting  me.  I  got 
off,  recovered  the  hat  about  one  hundred  yards 
down  the  creek,  and  followed  the  trail  of  the 
staff  to  Kossuth,  where  I  found  them 
bivouacked  in  a  farm  yard  that  night.  This 
is  the.  true  anecdote. 

"I  might  add  that  on  my  ride  to  Kossuth  I 
came  plump  into  a  regiment  of  the  enemy's 
infantry  that  had  been  in  at  Corinth  to  bury 
their  dead,  and  of  which  I  was  not  aware. 
My  conversation  with  the  commanding  officer 
of  that  regiment  until  I  knew  his  mission  and 
that  he  was  under  'a  flag'  can  be  fancied." 

Previous  to  the  battle  of  Corinth,  Ducat  was 
appointed  by  General  Grant,  Inspector-Gen- 
eral of  the  Second  Division  of  West  Tennes- 
see, but  the  battle  prevented  his  joining  an- 
other command.  Shortly  after  the  battle  he 
conducted  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  enemy  at  Holly 


si 

Springs,  a  distance  of  sixty-three  miles 
through  a  country  infested  with  a  superior 
number  of  guerrillas,  he  being  sent  on  a  mis- 
sion requiring  diplomacy  and  good  manage- 
ment. 

While  out  with  this  flag  of  truce  an  incident 
occurred  of  a  most  unpleasant  nature,  one 
which,  in  fact,  came  near  having  serious  conse- 
quences. Colonel  Ducat  was  attacked  in  his 
hotel  at  Holly  Springs  by  some  rebel  officers 
of  a  Tennessee  regiment,  and  was  compelled 
to  barricade  himself  in  his  room.  He  with  his 
aides  lay  prostrate  on  the  floor,  and  at  inter- 
vals all  through  one  night  answered  with  shots 
from  revolvers  the  fire  of  his  assailants.  Next 
morning  he  informed  the  commander  of  the 
rebel  post  of  the  outrage,  and  received  the  fol- 
lowing reply: 

Headquarters  of  Post, 
Holly  Springs,  Oct.  20th,  1862. 

Colonel:  I  learn  with  regret  that  discourtesy 
was  shown  you  last  night  at  the  hotel  by  certain 
soldiers  or  officers  of  the  Confederate  Army.  This 
is  to  request  you  to  give  me  a  full  statement  of  the 
facts,  and,  if  possible,  the  names  of  the  parties. 
They  shall  be  punished  for  their  rudeness.  Very 
respectfully,  J.  A.  ORR, 

Colonel  Commanding  Post. 

Lieut-Col.  A.  C.  Ducat,  of  Federal  Army. 


32 

It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  at  length  the 
battle  of  Corinth  further  than  to  notice  the 
part  taken  by  Colonel  Ducat  in  that  important 
event. 

luka,  a  few  days  previously,  had  been  a 
hard-fought  field,  but  the  numbers  engaged 
were  few  on  either  side,  and  the  victory  de- 
cided nothing.  Colonel  Ducat  had  important 
and  hazardous  duties  in  that  fight,  and  in  dis- 
charging them  showed  both  courage,  good 
judgment,  and  gallantry.  Corinth  was  the  first 
great  battle  he  was  engaged  in  as  a  member 
of  the  staff  of  the  General  in  command  and 
there  he  greatly  distinguished  himself  by  his 
coolness  and  daring. 

It  had  been  the  order  of  General  Rosecrans, 
in  forming  the  line  of  battle,  that  General 
Hamilton's  division  was  to  touch  with  his  left 
the  right  of  General  Davies'  division  on  the 
first  day.  Colonel  Ducat,  finding  the  left  and 
center  driven,  went  to  see  what  General  Ham- 
ilton was  doing,  or  could  do,  and  found  he 
had  not  closed  the  line,  and  was  away  to  the 
right  so  far  that  the  enemy  had  actually  de- 
ployed a  strong  skirmish  line,  feeling  its  way 
around  the  Union  right.  Ducat  rode  through 
this  line  of  skirmishers  to  find  Hamilton,  and 


33 

ordered  him  to  close  in  and  attack  the  enemy's 
left  flank.  Hamilton  declined  to  obey  without 
General  Rosecrans'  written  order.  Ducat 
again  rode  through  the  skirmish  line  to  Gen- 
eral Rosecrans,  procured  the  order  and  rode 
again  through  the  line  and  exposed  to  its  fire, 
to  Hamilton,  where  he  delivered  the  order  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  attack  success- 
fully made  at  the  time  it  was  so  critically  need- 
ed. The  two  orderlies  sent  after  Ducat,  with 
similar  written  orders,  in  case  Ducat  couldn't 
reach  Hamilton,  were  killed  on  the  way.  This 
service  is  mentioned  in  General  Rosecrans' 
paper  on  the  battle  of  Corinth  in  the  Century 
Magazine  of  October,  1886. 

Some  field  dispatches  written  or  carried  by 
Colonel  Ducat  were  preserved  by  him,  and 
these  may  now  be  given. 

In  the  Battle  of  Corinth, 

On  General  Hamilton's  Right, 
3.30  P.  M.,  Oct.  2nd,  1862. 

General  Rosecrans:  General  Sullivan  has  gone 
down  to  attack  on  General  Davies'  right.  General 
Buford  commands  the  right  and  is  rapidly  closing 
in  on  the  enemy's  flank.  As  I  write  General  Sulli- 
van is  engaged. 

I  have  recommended  General  Hamilton  to  keep 
his  artillery  well  in.    He  can  not  use  it  now.    One 
battery  I  have  sent  down  to  Sullivan. 
3 


34 

They  are  shelling  the  place  where  I  write.  I 
doubt  if  I  shall  be  able  to  reach  you  by  the  Purdy 
road.  I  send  a  copy  of  this  round  out  of  fire. 

We  are  losing  many  men,  and  the  engagement  is 
general  and  fast  increasing.  I  have  accomplished 
all  you  sent  me  to  do  and  superintended  all  the 
movements  and  formations  as  you  directed. 

A.  C.  DUCAT, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Chief  of  Grand  Guards. 

Headquarters  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 

10  A.  M.,  October  3rd,  1862. 
Brigadier-General    Davies,    Commanding    Second 

Division: 

General:  Rush  forward  your  skirmishers  on 
your  front  and  feel  of  what  you  have  got  to  handle, 
if  anything. 

We  may  assume  the  offensive  very  soon;  it  de- 
pends upon  the  pressure  that  may  come  on  the 
right.  The  Purdy  road  is  guarded  by  cavalry. 

General  Hamilton  is  on  your  right  on  the  Purdy 
road  at  the  rebel  works. 

A  battalion  of  cavalry  will  be  sent  out  to  scout 
from  front  towards  Chewalla  by  Bolivar  road  and 
then  to  left. 

By  Order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS. 

Arthur  C.  Ducat,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Chief 
of  Grand  Guards. 

Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 

11  A.  M.,  October  3rd,  1862. 
General:     If  you  have  not  already   sent  out  a 


35 


party  of  skirmishers  on  your  front,  where  are  the 
rebel  works,  the  General  recommends  that  you  do 
so,  and  feel  the  woods  on  their  flanks  on  the  Bolivar 
road.  A  short  distance  beyond  the  abatis  on  your 
front  on  the  Bolivar  road  there  is  a  good  command 
which  needs  watching.  There  is  also  a  road  to  the 
left  from  the  Bolivar  road  at  the  above-mentioned 
ridge. 

There  is  a  bridle  path  on  your  left  going  through 
the  rebel  works  and  the  abatis  which  will  need 
your  attention.  It  is  between  the  Bolivar  and  Che- 
walla  roads. 

By  Order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS. 

A.  C.  Ducat,  Acting  Assistant  Ins.  Gen. 

Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 

12  O'clock  noon,  October  3rd,  1862. 
Brigadier-General  Hamilton: 

General:  Rest  your  left  on  General  Davies,  and 
swing  round  your  right  and  attack  the  enemy  on 
their  left  flank.  Reinforce  on  your  right  and  cen- 
ter. Be  careful  not  to  get  under  Davies'  guns. 
Keep  your  troops  well  in  hand.  Get  well  this  way. 
Do  not  extend  too  much  to  your  right.  Would  be 
well  to  put  your  artillery,  well  supported,  on  ridge 
where  your  skirmishers  were  when  Colonel  Ducat 
left.  This  may  be  too  far  to  the  right.  Use  your 
own  judgment. 

By  Order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS. 

A.  C.  Ducat,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Chief  of 
Staff. 


36 


Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 

Jonesboro,  Term.,  October  7th,  1862. 
Major-General  Hurlburt: 

General:  I  dispatched  you  last  night.  Our  ad- 
vance is  now  at  Rugersville  or  near  there.  I  have 
been  trying  to  determine  whether  Price  and  Van 
Dorn  stick  together,  and  what  are  the  routes  of  re- 
treat. The  question  is  still  unsettled,  but  a  portion 
of  Price's  train  camped  west  of  the  Hatchie,  and  a 
large  portion  of  Van  Dorn's  train  is  reported  to 
have  come  west  of  the  Muddy.  From  the  front  the 
news  is  that  they  have  not  separated.  You  are  a 
fighting  general.  You  must  support  us.  We  have 
watched  railroads  and  points  long  enough.  Now 
is  the  time  to  make  the  enemy  watch.  Now  is  the 
time.  Move  Heaven  and  earth  to  get  what  you 
want  —  your  artillery  in  shape,  etc.,  and  let  us  go 
into  them.  We  can  do  it  and  others  must  look 
after  the  country  we  leave  in  the  rear. 

Sunrise  dispatch  received.  Sherman  must  move 
on  Pillow  and  the  other  people  who  rally  to  him. 
We  want  you.  If  we  are  pressed  we  must  fight  and 
whip.  At  the  very  least  you  must  not  leave  your 
present  position  now.  Your  position  is  a  good  one. 
You  say  it  is  my  victory.  I  consider  the  one-half 
of  it  yours.  You  have  gained  the  last  point  and 
certainly  not  the  least.  I  have  ordered  fifty  wagons 
of  provisions  to  you.  Let  us  go  on.  We  have  the 
whole  thing  before  us.  What  says  Grant? 

By  Order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS. 

A.  C.  Ducat,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Acting  Ins. 
Gen. 


37 
CHAPTER  VI. 


COMES  NORTH  WITH  GENERAL 
ROSECRANS. 

General  Rosecrans  was  ordered  to  proceed 
northward  and  take  command  of  the  army 
heretofore  in  command  of  Major-General 
Don  Carlos  Buell,  and  known  as  the  Army  of 
Ohio.  At  the  same  time  Colonel  Ducat  was 
ordered  by  the  War  Department  to  accompany 
General  Rosecrans,  and  in  the  order  was 
named  as  chief  of  staff.  He  had  received  no 
previous  intimation  of  a  purpose  to  transfer 
him  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  to  which 
he  was  much  attached;  but  he  had  great  ad- 
miration for  and  confidence  in  General  Rose- 
crans, and  was  quite  willing  to  follow  him  and 
partake  in  his  fortunes.  The  headquarters  of 
the  army  were  practically  at  Louisville,  but 
the  greater  portion  of  the  army  itself  was  at 
Bowling  Green.  It  was  a  reduced  and  discour- 
aged force.  Originally  it  had  numbered  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  but  greatly  less  than 
that  number  were  now  on  its  muster  rolls ;  and 
upwards  of  twenty-four  thousand  were  absent 


38 


on  leave  ;  six  thousand  four  hundred  and  eigh- 
ty-four men  were  absent  without  leave.  The 
effective  force  which  General  Rosecrans  had 
succeeded  to  was,  therefore,  about  sixty-five 
thousand  strong.  This  army  required  to  be  re- 
organized. The  commanding  general  entered 
upon  this  duty  with  promptness  and  zeal,  and 
he  found  in  his  chief  of  staff  an  assistant  of  sur- 
prising skill  and  energy.  Colonel  Ducat  was 
in  his  true  element  —  he  had  been  a  student  of 
military  organization,  and  he  regarded  disci- 
pline as  the  chief  requisite  of  military  success. 
Opportunely  he  was  relieved  of  the  duties  of 
chief  of  staff,  as  he  all  along  had  known  he 
would  be,  upon  the  arrival  of  his  intended 
successor,  the  gallant  and  accomplished  Julius 
Garesche.  Now  he  was  given  engineering 
work  —  employment  he  had  been  familiar  with 
from  boyhood  —  upon  the  Louisville  &  Nash- 
ville Railroad,  which  had  been  half  destroyed 
by  the  enemy.  The  army  drew  some  supplies 
from  Louisville,  and  with  difficulty  proceeded 
to  Nashville.  General  Negley,  who  afterward 
became  one  of  Colonel  Ducat's  warm  friends, 
was  already  there.  But  the  railroad  was  not 
yet  fully  re-opened,  and  though  the  enemy 
were  operating  in  the  vicinity,  in  a  manner  to 


39 

annoy  General  Rosecrans,  he  was  not  able  to 
at  once  assume  the  offensive.  Meantime  Col- 
onel Ducat,  what  with  his  engineering  and  his 
studying  how  to  better  some  of  the  conditions 
of  the  army's  organization,  was  extremely 
busy.  He  then  and  there,  in  his  capacity  of 
inspector-general,  devised  a  new  system  of 
division  and  brigade  enumeration,  and  a  new 
description  and  ordering  of  flags.  He  had  the 
approval  of  General  Rosecrans,  who  adopted 
them  in  an  official  order. 

Let  it  be  repeated,  this  is  not  a  history  of  the 
war;  nor  is  it  the  purpose  of  this  writing  to 
include  and  describe  all  of  Colonel  Ducat's 
actions  and  labors  in  the  war.  Only  such  and 
so  many  incidents  and  actions,  personally  at- 
taching to  him  as  soldier  and'  patriot,  as  are 
best  calculated  to  mark  and  illustrate  his 
character,  is  it  attempted  here  to  present.  The 
battles  of  Stone  River  and  Tullahoma,  hard 
and  bloody  conflicts  that  they  were,  can  only 
be  mentioned  in  passing.  They  resulted  in 
added  reputation  to  Rosecrans;  in  them  he 
achieved  glory  his  detractors  have  not  been 
able  to  dim.  At  his  side  was  Colonel  Ducat, 
or  only  absent  from  him  in  different  parts  of 
the  hotly  contested  fields,  while  executing 


40 

faithfully  and  fearlessly  orders  received  direct 
from  him.  The  Chief  of  Staff  Garesche  had 
fallen,  but  his  friend  and  associate  was  un- 
harmed, and  proudly  witnessed  the  skillful  and 
daring  conduct  of  his  commander.  That  splen- 
did conduct  so  impressed  him  that  ever  after 
when  some  enemy  to  "Old  Rosy"  would 
spring  up,  and  in  a  public  speech  or  in  the 
press  assail  him,  Ducat  became  suddenly 
angry  and  rushed  in  with  a  reply.  For  in- 
stance in  answer  to  an  article  published  long 
after  the  war  in  a  Chicago  newspaper  he  said, 
also  in  a  Chicago  newspaper,  this,  among 
other  indignant  things: 

"General  Rosecrans  is  a  great  and  successful 
soldier  and  a  generous  friend.  Rich  Moun- 
tain, Carnifax  Ferry,  luka,  Corinth,  Stone 
River,  Tullahoma,  Chattanooga,  and  Chicka- 
mauga  would  be  glory  enough  for  one  man, 
and  would  entitle  him  to  the  respect  and  grati- 
tude of  a  people  for  what  he  has  done,  in  al- 
most any  other  country  or  time,  and  it  is  not 
his  fault  that  devotion  to  his  family,  sore  afflic- 
tion, and  the  necessity  of  earning  a  support, 
together  with  the  sensitive  nature  that  is  al- 
ways found  to  exist  in  men  of  his  bravery  and 
genius,  have  prevented  him  from  coming  for- 


41 

ward  to  resist  the  attacks  of  calumniators 
whose  chief  object  is  to  filch  from  him  his  well- 
earned  glory  and  build  up  their  smirched  repu- 
tations on  his  deeds." 

CHAPTER  VII. 


CHATTANOOGA     AND     CHICKA- 
MAUGA. 

After  the  successful  and  glorious  fighting  at 
Stone  River,  and  having  made  secure  of  Mur- 
freesboro',  it  was  General  Rosecrans'  next 
business  to  advance  and  clear  Middle  Tennes- 
see of  the  enemy.  The  rebel  Bragg  was  in 
that  section  with  a  superior  force,  and  he  with 
other  rebel  officers  held  a  number  of  strong 
points.  General  Rosecrans  moved  forward, 
fighting  every  mile  of  the  way  and  always 
pushing  Bragg  until  finally  without  a  serious 
engagement — simply  by  masterly  strategy — 
Middle  Tennessee  was  cleared  of  the  enemy. 
Chattanooga,  held  and  strongly  fortified  by 
the  rebels,  and  the  objective  point  of  Rose- 
crans' army,  was  abandoned  by  Bragg's  order; 
he  could  no  longer  hold  that  place,  and  he 
hoped  to  take  up  a  new  position,  that  he  could 


42 

make  equally  strong,  near  the  Chickamauga. 
Chattanooga  was  entered  by  Rosecrans'  army 
and  Colonel  Ducat's  first  important  duty  there 

was  made  known  to  him  in  an  official  order. 

Headquarters,  Department  of  the  Cumberland, 

Chattanooga,  Sept.  llth,  1863. 
Colonel:  The  General  commanding  directs  you, 
in  company  with  Brigadier-General  Morton,  to 
make  a  thorough  examination  of  the  defensive 
works  in  and  about  this  place,  and  the  available 
position  for  troops,  and  make  a  written  report  of 
the  result  of  your  examination.  Very  respectfully, 

G.  GODDARD,  A.  A.  G. 
Lieut.-Col.  A.  C.  Ducat,  Asst.  Ins.  Gen. 

The  report  was  that  Chattanooga  could 
be  defended  against  any  assault.  But  soon  the 
accumulation  of  the  enemy's  forces  on  the 
Chickamauga,  the  greater  portion  of  Rose- 
crans' army  was  required  to  move  out  and 
challenge  Bragg,  with  his  army  seventy  thou- 
sand strong,  to  a  decisive  battle.  In  concen- 
trating Rosecrans'  forces  some  unfortunate  ac- 
cidents occurred,  but  at  last  fifty-five  thousand 
men  were  all  posted  to  advantage.  The  battle 
commenced  and  raged  fiercely  throughout  the 
day  (Saturday,  September  iQth).  When  night 
fell  neither  army  had  much  the  advantage. 


43 

Next  morning  Breckenridge,  on  the  rebel 
side,  began  the  conflict,  and  was  quickly  fol- 
lowed by  all  the  rebel  divisions.  The  principal 
weight  of  their  attack  was  upon  the  right  wing 
of  the  Union  army  which  stood  wonderfully 
for  a  time,  but  at  length  was  crushed  and  its 
fragments  driven  on  the  road  to  Chattanooga. 
Rosecrans  re-entered  Chattanooga  and  from 
there  resumed  the  direction  of  the  army,  mean- 
time the  left  wing  did  not  share  the  demorali- 
zation to  a  fatal  extent,  but  finally  it  moved 
from  the  field.  Rosecrans  was  in  possession  of 
Chattanooga,  the  place  the  fight  was  for,  and 
the  rebels  had  gained  a  fruitless  victory  on 
the  field.  It  is  a  question  with  military  critics 
and  historians  to  this  day  whether  Rosecrans 
sustained  such  a  defeat  as  justified  his  removal 
from  command.  Colonel  Ducat  held  strongly 
an  opinion  on  this  question;  Rosecrans  was 
removed.  General  Thomas  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him  and  Colonel  Ducat  was  assigned 
to  his  staff  with  the  old  rank  and  duties. 

Among  General  Ducat's  papers  were  found 
some  copies  of  Chickamauga's  field  dispatches 
which  have  a  personal  as  well  as  military  in- 
terest, but  as  they  deal  with  questions  that 
might  revive  old  controversies  it  has  been 
deemed  wiser  to  suppress  them. 


44 

At  the  great  battle  of  Chickamauga,  when 
the  right  was  turned  and  driven,  Colonel 
Ducat  refused  to  leave  the  field  with  the  staff, 
asking  for  volunteers  from  it  to  remain  with 
him  and  assist  in  rallying  the  right  wing,  which 
he  believed  to  be  possible.  Captains  Burt  and 
Hill,  Lieutenants  Porter  and  Reynolds,  and 
Captain  Garner,  commanding  the  cavalry  es- 
cort, and  his  company  responded  to  his  urgent 
appeal.  He  succeeded  in  making  a  stand  in 
the  Dry  Valley,  reforming  the  commands, 
and  when  joined  by  General  Sheridan,  Colonel 
McKibben,  et  al.,  went  with  the  troops  to  the 
support  of  General  George  H.  Thomas,  then 
holding  the  left  against  tremendous  odds. 
Having  taken  so  distinguished  a  part  in  the 
battle,  General  Rosecrans  requested  him  to 
write  out  a  formal  report  of  his  actions  and  ob- 
servations on  the  field. 

In  the  great  fire  of  Chicago,  October  gth 
and  loth,  1871,  many  dispatches  were  burned, 
indeed  in  that  conflagration  General  Ducat 
lost  the  greater  part  of  his  military  treasures. 
This  fact  he  afterwards  communicated  to  Gen- 
eral Rosecrans,  who  was  then  in  Mexico,  and 
received  the  following  sympathetic  reply: 


45 

Mexico,  April  5th,  1873. 
General  A.  C.  Ducat: 

Dear  Friend:  It  is  a  great  pity  that  nearly 
all  the  original  papers  of  your  military  record, 
so  precious  to  yourself  and  friends,  were  destroyed 
in  that  terrible  conflagration.  But  there  is  some 
satisfaction  that  the  records  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment have  enough  to  attest  them,  and  to  verify 
what  your  friends  will  be  glad  to  say  of  so  gallant 
and  useful  a  soldier  as  yourself  during  the  late  War 
of  the  Union  against  the  Rebellion. 

Your  services  with  me  began  when  I  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  just  previous 
to  the  battle  of  Corinth,  in  which  you  acted  as  an 
Inspector-General  on  my  staff,  and  bore  a  gallant 
and  distinguished  part  during  the  two  memorable 
days  of  the  contest,  as  well  as  during  the  subse- 
quent pursuit  of  the  enemy. 

Soon  after  the  battle  I  was  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  Cumberland  and  the 
Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  and  you  were  offered  and 
accepted  the  position  of  Inspector-General  on  my 
staff. 

In  this  capacity  you  elaborated  the  details  of  that 
valuable  system  which  gave  such  vigor  to  the  In- 
spector-General's Department  of  the  famous  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  the  forms  of  which,  with 
trifling  alterations,  were  subsequently  adopted  by 
the  United  States  Army.  The  importance  of  this 
work  will  be  the  better  appreciated  when  it  is  un- 
derstood that  the  Inspector-General's  Department 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  a  new  creation, 


46 

that  of  the  old  regular  army  having  been  buried  in 
the  mass  of  volunteer  armies  improvised  and 
thrown  into  the  field  to  meet  the  national  danger, 
and  to  organize  as  best  they  could. 

After  what  I  have  said  in  official  reports  in  com- 
mendation of  your  abilities  in  your  department, 
gallantry  in  action  and  tried  fidelity  to  duty,  it  will 
not  be  much  to  repeat  here,  my  dear  General,  that 
while  under  my  command  you  were  distinguished 
for  organizing  capacity,  clearness,  method,  dili- 
gence, promptitude,  untiring  industry,  irreproach- 
able morals  and  great  gallantry. 

I  remain  yours  always, 
W.  S.  ROSECRANS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


ON  SICK  LEAVE— THE  COLONELCY 
OF  THE  TWELFTH— RESIGNS. 

Colonel  Ducat  was  warmly  received  by  Ma- 
jor-General Thomas  into  his  military  family. 
The  Inspector-General  had  been  observed  and 
admired  by  him  long  before  he  personally  had 
his  assistance  on  that  wild  Sunday  at  Chicka- 
mauga.  Among  Colonel  Ducat's  military  pa- 
pers are  two  letters,  both  of  antecedent  dates, 
from  General  Thomas,  one,  bearing  date  of 
November  8,  1863,  expressing  concern  at  the 


47 

former's  illness  and  wishing  him  a  speedy  re- 
covery, and  another  of  a  date  one  month  ear- 
lier, enclosing  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
recommending  him  for  appointment  as  Briga- 
dier-General. General  Ducat  had  been  very 
ill  of  camp  dysentery  in  the  fall  of  1863,  and 
was  permitted  to  return  to  Chicago  for  twenty 
days  to  recruit  bis  health.  He  did  not  recover 
as  rapidly  as  he  had  hoped,  and  his  furlough 
was  extended;  and  when,  after  two  months' 
absence,  he  did  rejoin  the  army,  he  was  far 
from  being  strong.  In  the  summer  of  1864 
his  malady  returned  upon  him,  and  he  was 
again  ordered  by  the  army  surgeon  to  proceed 
north  for  rest  and  recuperation.  Accordingly 
he  wrote  to  General  Thomas,  resigning  his  po- 
sition on  the  General's  staff,  and  received  the 
following  written  response : 

Chattanooga,  Term.,  July  22,  1864. 

Colonel:     Your  favor  of  the  20th  was  received 

this   morning.     I  regret  deeply  that  your  health 

compelled  you  to  resign,  as  we  can  not  spare  our 

efficient  and  energetic  officers.     Be  assured  of  my 

warmest  sympathy,  and  with  the  hope  that  quiet 

and  care  may  in  a  short  time  restore  you  to  health, 

so  that  you  can  return  to  the  service,  where  your 

energy  and  zeal  will  always  ensure  you  a  welcome. 

I  remain,  yours  very  truly, 

GEO.  H.  THOMAS, 

Major-General. 


48 

On  the  occasion  of  Colonel  Ducat's  finally 
retiring  from  the  army,  Major-General 
Thomas  wrote  him: 

Colonel:  Your  favor  of  the  20th.  is  just  received. 
I  regret  exceedingly  that  your  health  has  com- 
pelled you  to  resign  from  the  army.  You  have 
my  sincere  sympathy.  You  have  been  an  efficient 
and  energetic  officer,  and  can  illy  be  spared  from 
the  service.  I  trust  that  health  may  return  to 
you  speedily,  and  that  you  may  have  a  long  and 
prosperous  life. 

I  remain  truly  yours, 

GEO.  H.  THOMAS, 
U.  S.  Army  Commanding. 
Lieut-Col.  A.  C.  Ducat,  Chicago,  111. 

And  on  the  same  occasion  General  U.  S. 
Grant  promulgated  the  following: 

Headquarters  Military  Division 

of  the  Mississippi, 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  February  19,  1864. 
Lieut.-Col.   Ducat  leaves  the  service  in  conse- 
quence of  ill  health  alone.    His  services  have  been 
valuable  and  fully  appreciated  by  all  those  under 
whom  he  has  served,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
he  rose  from  the   position   of  private,   then  first 
lieutenant,  and  adjutant  of  his  regiment  to  lieu- 
tenant-colonel of  it,  and  finally  to  be  inspector- 
general  of  the  Department  of  the  Cumberland. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 
Major-General. 


49 

The  date  of  Colonel  Ducat's  resignation  was 
February  19,  1864.  He  immediately  returned 
to  Chicago,  but  not  at  once  to  business  activi- 
ties, as  he  was  advised  by  physicians  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  for  some  time  to  the  re- 
gaining of  his  health.  It  is  certain,  too,  that  he 
looked  forward  with  more  or  less  confidence 
to  a  possible  appointment  to  a  position  of  rank 
in  the  regular  army,  after  the  war  should  be 
over,  and  so  was  doubtful  as  to  his  ever  going 
again  into  any  business  pursuit. 

CHAPTER  IX. 


CHIEFS    OF    STAFF  — DUCAT,    GAR- 
ESCHE  AND   GARFIELD. 

General  Ducat  performed,  as  has  been  seen, 
double  duty  in  the  battle  of  Corinth;  he  was 
Assistant  Inspector-General  on  General  Rose- 
crans'  staff,  and  also  Acting  Chief  of  Staff. 
It  was  known  to  all  who  were  near  to  the 
Commanding  General  that  he  was  only  await- 
ing the  arrival  of  Colonel  Julius  Garesche'  to 
make  that  accomplished  soldier  his  Chief  of 
Staff.  During  the  short  time  Colonel  Ducat 
and  Colonel  Garesche  were  together  on  the 

4 


50 

staff,  they  conceived  a  great  liking  for  each 
other,  and  a  genuine  friendship  was  growing 
up  between  them,  when  intercourse  was  closed 
by  Garesch£'s  death.  Some  letters  written  by 
him  and  his  brother  to  Colonel  Ducat  seem  to 
demand  a  place  in  this  narrative.  When  in 
1863  Colonel  Ducat  was  about  to  leave  head- 
quarters on  sick  leave,  he  was  expecting  to 
come  north  by  way  of  Cincinnati,  and  Gar- 
esche*  learning  this,  wrote  him  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  his  brother,  who  was  in  religious 
duty  at  St.  Xavier  in  Cincinnati.  The  letter 
was  not  delivered  in  person,  but  sent  in  the 
mails  from  Chicago.  Afterwards  it  was  re- 
turned to  Colonel  Ducat.  This  is  it: 

Camp  near  Lavergne,  Term., 

Sunday,  December  28,  1863. 

My  Dear  Brother:  I  have  had  no  time  to  write 
to  you.  But  let  me  now  introduce  to  you  one 
whom  in  a  very  short  time  I  have  learned  to 
esteem  and  regard  as  an  old  friend,  and  whom  I 
have  requested  to  call  on  you.  Receive  him  as 
my  friend,  dear  brother.  He  will  tell  you  all 
about  me,  and  that  I  have  no  leisure  now  to  write. 
I  forgot  to  name  Lieut.-Col.  Ducat,  Assistant  In- 
spector-General on  General  Rosecrans'  staff.  The 
General  thinks  all  the  world  of  him;  and  there  is 
but  one  thing  wanting  in  him — which  is,  that  he 


51 

should  become  a  Catholic.    Kind  regards  to  all 
the  Fathers,  and  believe  me  as  ever, 
Your  affectionate  brother  and  friend, 

JULIUS  GARESCH^. 

Garesch£'s  brother  having  received  the  fore- 
going letter  in  due  course  of  mail,  acknowl- 
edged thje  receipt  of  it  in  the  following  touch- 
ing epistle: 

St.  Xavier,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

February  17,  1863. 
Lieut.-Col.  Ducat,  U.  S.  A.: 

Dear  Sir:  Your  kind  letter  of  the  29th  ult.,  was 
duly  received,  and  makes  me  regret  that  your 
route  did  not  lie  through  Cincinnati.  If  you,  who 
knew  him  for  so  short  a  time,  became  so  much 
attached  to  him,  think  what  must  be  our  love  for 
him,  whom  we  have  always  regarded  as  a  model 
in  our  family.  In  this  unhappy  war,  families  have 
been  cruelly  divided,  and  I  have  seen  a  brother 
cursing  another,  though  he  supposed  him  mor- 
tally wounded;  but  such  was  the  attachment  to 
Julius  that  he  was  loved  if  possible  even  more 
than  before,  by  those  of  his  family  who  did  not 
approve  his  judgment,  though  they  defended  his 
course. 

The  letter  which  you  enclosed  to  me  was  like 
a  voice  from  the  tomb.  I  have  heard  before  of 
the  feelings  which  such  incidents  excite,  but  I 
did  not  anticipate  how  melancholy  and  yet  how 
consoling  they  are.  You  say  the  letter  is  mine. 
I  thank  your  kindness  for  allowing  a  claim  which 


52 

I  could  not  have  made,  since  it  permits  me  to  re- 
turn in  some  slight  measure  the  favor  you  have 
conferred. 

I  have  delayed  this  answer  in  hopes  to  send 
you  a  photograph  of  poor  Jules,  but  I  have  not 
yet  received  the  copies  which  were  sent  me.  As 
soon  as  I  do  so,  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  forward- 
ing one  to  your  address. 

I  hope,  my  dear  sir  (I  was  about  to  write 
friend),  that  you  will  ponder  the  hint  contained 
in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  letter  which  you  so 
highly  prize.  I  cannot  more  than  allude  to  the 
subject,  for  I  should  be  doubtful  of  the  propriety 
of  so  much,  were  it  not  for  the  circumstances  of 
the  case. 

Yours   gratefully, 

F.  P.  GARESCH6. 

The  third  chief  in  succession  of  the  staff  of 
General  Rosecrans  was  General  James  A.  Gar- 
field  (afterwards  President  of  the  United 
States),  who  entered  the  service  as  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  an  Ohio  regiment.  He  was  con- 
stantly with  Colonel  Ducat,  and  came  to  know 
him  well,  and  afterwards  he  had  this  to  say  of 
him: 

"I  never  knew  a  man  who  hated  humbug, 
red  tape  and  circumlocution  as  much  as  Ducat 
did.  He  made  short  cuts  to  whatever  was 
to  be  done,  or  whatever  he  had  to  do,  he  was 
direct  and  forcible,  restless  under  long  instruc- 


53 

tions,  discussions  and  iteration.  He  had  a 
quick  and  comprehensive  mind,  and  was  so 
prompt  that  we  had  to  consider  things  were, 
before  they  were  given  to  him  to  do.  He  never 
disobeyed  an  order,  but  supported  his  superi- 
ors to  his  fullest  ability,  even  when  his  judg- 
ment did  not  approve.  He  was  in  himself  a 
model  example  of  thorough  discipline." 

As  early  as  1863  many  of  the  commanding 
officers  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  united 
in  recommending  him  for  appointment  as 
Brigadier-General.  This  was  at  a  time  when 
Ducat  would  have  been  satisfied  with  having 
the  colonelcy  of  his  regiment,  to  which  he  was 
entitled  and  which  had  been  so  many  times 
promised  him.  General  Garfield  wrote: 

Winchester,  Tenn.,  August  1,  1863. 
E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

Dear  Sir:  Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  C.  Ducat  has 
been  inspector  general  of  this  department  since 
November,  1862.  He  may  be  justly  said  to  have 
originated  and  set  in  operation  our  whole  system 
of  inspection,  which  has  done  more  for  the  effi- 
ciency of  this  army  than  any  other  Influence.  He 
is  a  most  thorough  and  able  soldier,  who  has 
adorned  every  position  he  has  filled.  I  know  of 
but  few  men  anywhere  so  worthy  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion of  brigadier-general  as  he,  and  I  earnestly 
recommend  his  appointment.  He  has  served  with 


54 

marked  distinction  in  other  fields  before  entering 
this  department. 

JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 


CHAPTER  X. 


AGAIN    IN    THE    INSURANCE    BUSI- 
NESS—MANAGER OF  A  GREAT 
COMPANY. 

General  Ducat's  health  was  more  seriously 
impaired  than  he  was  told  by  his  physician,  or 
than  he  was  willing  to  believe.  He  was,  how- 
ever, advised  against  engaging  in  any  exacting 
business;  but  he  had  long  neglected  business 
matters  that  needed  to  be  put  in  order 
and  so,  though  he  regarded  himself  as  without 
an  occupation,  he  was  not  altogether  idle. 
And  in  the  meantime  his  friends  in  the  regular 
army  and  particularly  the  officers  with  whom 
he  had  served  were  using  their  influence  to 
bring  him  back  into  the  service.  They  be- 
lieved they  would  succeed  in  their  friendly  pur- 
pose and  as  health  improved  he  had  more  and 
more  hopes  of  returning  to  army  life.  His  ap- 
plication was  for  brigadier-generalship  in  the 
active  service.  At  last  an  appointment  as  brig- 
adier-general was  received  by  him,  but  it  was 


55 

for  the  Invalid  Corps,  and  he  promptly  de- 
clined it.  He  was  now  as  well  as  he  ever  could 
expect  to  be,  and  he  preferred  going  into  busi- 
ness than  into  the  army  on  such  terms.  Fi- 
nally, on  July  1 2th,  1866,  he  received  his  ap- 
pointment brevet  brigadier-general  "for  meri- 
torious services  during  the  war,"  which  was 
purely  complimentary.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  General  Ducat's  health  was  suffi- 
ciently restored  to  permit  him  resuming  busi- 
ness, a  number  of  the  greatest  insurance  com- 
panies, having  their  homes  in  New  York,  New 
Haven,  Hartford  or  Boston,  or  in  London, 
each  made  him  advantageous  proposals,  look- 
ing to  secure  his  influence  and  services 
exclusively  at  Chicago  for  that  city  and 
a  large  part  of  the  West.  It  was  an 
affluent  field  of  promise  thus  spread  out 
before  him,  and  no  matter  what  his  choice 
might  have  been  of  a  company  to  represent 
in  it,  he  could  not  have  failed  of  splendid  suc- 
cess. To  make  a  choice  was  difficult,  but  the 
proposal  of  the  Home  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York  impressed  him  as  being  more  fa- 
vorable than  any  other,  and  accordingly  he  en- 
tered into  contract  with  them  in  1866,  and  im- 
mediately opened  up  in  Chicago  commodious 


56 

and  handsome  offices,  and  began  operations 
with  even  more  than  his  old  judgment  and  vig- 
or. From  that  date,  and  as  long  as  General 
Ducat  represented  the  "Home"  company,  its 
record  in  city  and  country,  within  the  Western 
Department,  was  one  of  the  most  comprehen- 
sive successes.  In  a  short  time  he  easily 
placed  his  company  at  the  very  head  of  all  the 
companies  then  doing  insurance  in  this  exten- 
sive region.  Through  the  connection  he  at- 
tained great  prosperity,  .and  the  company 
through  him  gained  large  profits.  He  was  by 
all  that  were  acquainted  with  the  facts  of  un- 
derwriting regarded  as  a  most  judicious  ind 
safe  agent,  and  equally  a  safe  and  true  friend 
of  the  holders  of  policies.  He  ever  recognized 
the  equities  as  between  insurers  and  the  in- 
sured, and  consistently  acting  on  those  equi- 
ties, he  obtained  the  confidence  of  the  owners 
of  insurable  property,  and  at  the  same  time 
made  solid  the  position  of  his  company  before 
the  public. 

Subsequently  he  was  offered  and  accepted 
the  agencies  of  the  Manhattan,  Howard  and 
Citizens  Insurance  Companies  of  New  York, 
and  with  this  additional  support  to  his  repre- 
sentation of  the  Home,  in  the  West,  he  very 


greatly  increased  his  professional  influence  and 
importance. 

The  year  1866  was  a  prosperous  one  for  in- 
surance companies,  and  especially  was  it  so  in 
relation  to  their  transactions  in  Chicago.  The 
population  of  the  city  had  increased  to  200,- 
ooo  and  was  rapidly  growing ;  the  money  value 
of  individual  buildings  was  constantly  and 
vastly  increasing;  and  so,  not  only  the  num- 
ber of  policies  written,  but  the  amounts  they 
represented,  were  doubled  twice  over  those  of 
any  former  year.  Agents  from  all  quarters  be- 
gan suddenly  to  pour  into  the  city.  The  sharp- 
ness of  the  competition  between  companies 
was  now  felt  as  never  before.  Again,  there- 
fore, there  was  danger  that  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations established  by  the  Board  of  Under- 
writers, and  approved  by  the  most  prominent 
Eastern  companies,  would  be,  in  many  in- 
stances disregarded,  and  that  the  board  itself 
might  be  broken  up.  It  required  all  of  Gen- 
eral Ducat's  energies  and  skill  and  all  his  in- 
fluence to  hold  the  majority  of  agents  in  line. 
The  other  leading  agents  of  intelligence  were 
of  course  with  him  and  greatly  assisted.  Many 
an  agent  was  a  leader,  but  General  Ducat  was 
THE  leader,  and  as  such  he  was  universally  re- 


58 

garded.  If  battles  were  to  be  fought  in  the 
board  he  was  among  the  first  to  be  selected  to 
direct  the  forces  of  union  and  discretion  and  to 
conduct  negotiations.  If  important  measures 
were  to  be  attempted  with  the  great  companies 
by  personal  visits  to  the  East  and  elsewhere, 
he  was,  in  most  instances,  chosen  for  the  serv- 
ice. If  legislation  was  desired  in  and  for  this 
State,  bearing  on  the  business  of  insurance, 
he  was  among  those  delegated  to  visit  the 
State  capital  to  suggest  and  watch  bills,  and 
to  inform  the  members  of  the  Legislature  as 
to  the  needs  of  the  profession,  if  the  interests 
at  once  of  the  companies  and  the  people  at 
large  were  to  be  safeguarded. 

It  has  to  be  said  that  the  lingering  prestige 
of  the  Board  of  Underwriters,  more  than  the 
positive  assertion  of  its  powers,  carried  the 
whole  body  of  underwriters  over  the  confused 
period  from  1861-2  to  1867.  That  saving  pres- 
tige was  greatly  owing  to  splendid  efforts  put 
forth  by  General  Ducat  in  the  time  before  the 
war.  During  the  interval  the  strongest  among 
the  companies  were  able  to  maintain  for  the 
most  part  their  rates,  the  old  rates  of  the 
board.  But  there  was  cutting  by  the  weaker 
•companies,  and  the  dozens  of  new  and  mostly 


59 

clientless  companies,  that  about  that  time 
made  their  appearance  in  Chicago,  had  a  most 
demoralizing  effect.  Now,  again,  and  with  a 
conquering  will,  General  Ducat  strove  to  have 
adopted  for  one  and  all  a  definite  and  binding 
tariff.  A  majority  of  the  board,  which  was  a 
majority  of  all  the  agents  in  the  city,  once 
more  agreed  to  abide  by  a  fixed  classification 
of  risks;  but  not  so  the  minority,  made  up  of 
representatives  of  certain  Eastern  companies, 
who  became  restive  under  the  board's  unde- 
viating  control.  They  were  the  weaker  East- 
ern companies,  and  they  hoped  for  some  ad- 
vantage in  revolt.  There  were  a  number  of 
regretted  secessions  from  the  board;  but  the 
resolute  majority,  with  General  Ducat  at  their 
head,  stood  and  fought  the  battle  out.  The 
struggle  lasted  for  nearly  a  year,  between  the 
board  and  its  opponents — the  interference  of 
the  National  Board  was  asked  for;  upon 
what  decision  the  National  Board  should  ren- 
der depended  apparently  the  very  existence  of 
the  Chicago  organization.  The  decision  was 
not  forthcoming,  and  fortunately  at  last  it 
was  not  needed,  as  the  opposition  relented  and 
came  back  into  the  board,  and  afterwards  all 
the  members  worked  together  in  a  community 


eo 

of  interest,  for  mutual  protection  under  a  fixed 
tariff  of  rates  and  rules,  of  sound  and  healthy 
practice  of  underwriting. 

All  this  time  General  Ducat  was  not  once 
unmindful  of  the  importance  to  insurance  in- 
terests of  a  competent  city  fire  department. 
His  suggestions  to  the  fire  chief  were  many 
and  timely  and  generally  were  well  taken.  He 
continued  to  strengthen,  out  of  contributions 
by  the  insurance  companies,  the  fire  brigade 
which  originally  was  his  own  creation,  and  of 
which  he  was  the  first  captain.  He  was  also 
a  member  of  the  Citizens'  Association,  one  of 
whose  objects  was  to  better  and  encourage 
the  organization  of  firemen.  While  thus  de- 
voted to  the  public  interest,  and  to  the  general 
interest  of  the  Board  of  Underwriters,  he  did 
not  at  all  neglect  those  of  his  own  companies. 
At  the  time  of  the  great  fire,  which  was  now 
about  to  come  upon  Chicago,  he  had  out  for 
the  Home  alone  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand policies,  representing  nearly  $9,000,000. 
Nearly  a  thousand  policies  covered  buildings 
that  were  destroyed  in  the  conflagration.  Some 
$3,500,000  were  promptly  paid  to  policy  hold- 
ers, and  every  dollar  without  a  word  of  quib- 
bling, nor  the  delay  of  an  hour  longer  than 


ei 

was  necessary.  The  cheerful  alacrity  dis- 
played by  General  Ducat  in  the  settlement  of 
all  claims,  and  his  painstaking  assistance  ren- 
dered in  their  adjustment  where  policies  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  fire,  and  his  liberality 
shown  in  every  way,  made  a  magnificent  rec- 
ord for  him  and  for  his  companies. 

Long  before  this  time  the  city  had  become 
too  large  for  the  Fire  Brigade,  under  its  organ- 
ization of  narrow  scope.  An  organization  of 
somewhat  a  similar  nature,  but  a  hundred-fold 
larger  and  stronger,  was  imperatively  required, 
in  the  interest  both  of  the  insurance  companies 
and  the  citizens.  General  Ducat  suggested  a 
Fire  Patrol,  to  be  modeled  after  something  of 
the  kind  in  New  York  City.  The  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters considered  the  matter,  and  after 
such  information  as  could  be  had  from  New 
York,  a  committee,  of  which  General  Ducat 
was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  organize  and 
perfect  a  Fire  Patrol,  and  to  procure  a  fitting 
equipment  for  it.  The  work  of  the  committee 
was  completed  September  29,  and  the  Patrol 
made  its  first  appearance  on  the  streets  Octo- 
ber 2,  1871.  But  it  was  not  in  possession  of  a 
full  equipment  till  a  few  days  later.  On  the 
Saturday  immediately  before  the  great  fire  its 


new  and  brilliantly  painted  carts  arrived,  and 
the  carefully  selected  horses  were  harnessed  to 
them,  all  the  men  turned  out  in  clean  uniform 
suits  and  hats  of  glaze,  and  with  considerable 
pride  and  pomp  showed  themselves  to  the  pub- 
lic. It  was  exclusively  the  affair  of  the  insur- 
ance companies;  they  jointly  purchased  the 
equipment;  they  proposed  alone  to  pay  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  Patrol.  They  appoint- 
ed— at  General  Ducat's  request — Benjamin  B. 
Bulwinkle  to  be  the  head  of  the  Patrol.  A 
home  for  the  carts  and  stabling  for  the  horses 
and  bunks  for  the  men,  these  had  all  been  pro- 
vided in  a  convenient  quarter.  But  unfortu- 
nately it  was  in  a  quarter  that  was  early 
reached  by  the  conflagration  which  began  the 
next  day,  and  the  Patrol  and  its  belongings 
was  consumed  in  it.  Some  of  the  companies 
that  had  contributed  to  organize  and  support 
it  were  rendered  insolvent,  and  for  a  short 
time  its  reorganization  was  delayed;  but  the 
original  friends,  who  had  once  given  it  body 
and  life,  were  equal  to  the  task  of  reviving  and 
perpetuating  it.  For  two  or  three  years  the 
task  was  hard,  but  by  1875  the  organization 
was  secure,  and  measures  were  taken  to  render 
it  perfect.  A  committee  of  the  Board  of  Un- 


63 

derwriters  was  appointed  to  prepare  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  Fire 
Patrol.  General  Ducat  was  at  the  head  of  the 
committee,  consisting  of  himself,  General  C. 
W.  Drew  and  Thomas  Buckley,  and  the  rules 
and  regulations  were  largely  of  his  devising. 
They  had  a  military  cast,  and  were  promul- 
gated in  true  military  fashion.  The  Fire  Pa- 
trol thus  organized,  equipped  and  started  on  its 
career  of  unsurpassed  usefulness,  was  a  great 
achievements;  and  while  the  credit  of  its  crea- 
tion and  promotion  has  to  be  divided  among 
several,  it  is  only  bare  justice  to  say  that  Gen- 
eral Ducat  is  entitled  to  a  large  share  of  it. 
He  lived  to  see  the  Patrol  brought  to  a  stage 
of  development  which  even  he,  possibly,  never 
at  the  beginning  dreamed  of.  He  watched  it 
incessantly,  so  long  as  he  did  live,  and  the 
chairman  of  the  Fire  Patrol  Committee  for 
some  years  past  and  the  present  year,  Mr. 
James  L.  Ross,  imparts  the  information  that 
the  General  was  to  the  last  a  frequent  visitor 
to  the  different  offices  and  stations  of  the  or- 
ganization, giving  helpful  advice  to  the  chair- 
man and  cheering  the  men.  It  has  grown  to 
be  an  organization  commanding  from  con- 
venient points  the  entire  city,  and  though  the 


64 

cost  of  its  maintenance  is  upwards  of  $75,000 
annually,  its  saving  to  the  insurance  compa- 
nies in  salvages  is  often,  at  a  single  fire,  as 
much  or  more  than  that  large  sum. 

General  Ducat  was  alone  in  the  manage- 
ment in  the  West  of  the  Home  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York  and  his  other  com- 
panies, until  1873,  when  he  took  Mr.  George 
M.  Lyon  into  partnership.  The  partnership 
continued  until  the  General's  death.  The  firm 
of  Ducat  &  Lyon  was  highly  prosperous  the 
whole  time  of  its  existence,  and  had  the  un- 
wavering confidence  of  the  entire  public. 

An  incident  connected  with  General  Ducat's 
administration  of  the  Home  Insurance  Com- 
pany's affairs  in  Chicago  is  presented  for  in- 
sertion here  by  Mr.  W.  L.  B.  Jenney,  an  archi- 
tect of  high  standing  and  celebrity.  It  relates 
to  the  style  of  steel  construction  of  huge  city 
buildings,  and  goes  far  to  prove  that  General 
Ducat  was  in  part  the  inventor  of  that  order 
of  construction,  while  it  proves  absolutely  that 
Mr.  Jenney  was,  if  not  the  sole,  unaided  in- 
ventor, then  that  he  had  the  greatest  share  in 
the  invention,  and  was  the  first  who  ever  erect- 
ed an  important  structure  on  that  system.  Fol- 
lowing is  the  letter: 


65 

Chicago,  111.,  April  19,  1897. 

I  first  met  General  Charles  Arthur  Ducat  at 
Cairo  in  the  early  days  of  the  rebellion.  I  was  in 
charge  of  the  engineer  works  at  the  junction  of 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  at  the  time  was 
building  a  fort  at  Cairo  Point.  Colonel  J.  D.  Web- 
ster, Chief  of  Staff  to  General  Grant,  introduced 
us  and  informed  me  that  General  Ducat,  who  was 
then  Major  of  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Infantry,  was 
an  engineer,  and  that  he  had  kindly  offered  his 
services  whenever  he  was  off  duty,  which  I  was 
only  too  glad  to  accept,  and  until  the  Fort  was 
completed  Ducat  spent  considerable  of  his  time  in 
charge  of  certain  portions  of  the  work. 

In  1868,  when  I  first  came  to  Chicago,  I  found 
General  Ducat,  and  we  renewed  old  associations. 
In  1883,  when  the  Home  Insurance  Company  pro- 
posed to  erect  a  building  in  Chicago,  Ducat  kindly 
recommended  me  to  be  their  architect. 

The  problem  presented  by  the  owners  for  the 
first  time,  was  to  erect  on  a  very  compressible 
soil  a  tall  heavy  building,  divided  above  the  sec- 
ond floor  into  the  maximum  number  of  small  offices 
and  necessitating  a  large  number  of  windows  of 
moderate  size,  reducing  the  piers  between  windows 
to  dimensions  too  small  to  carry  the  loads,  if 
built  of  ordinary  masonry;  hence,  it  became  nec- 
essary to  build  metal  columns  in  the  piers.  To 
avoid  the  inconvenience  from  expansion  and  con- 
traction and  to  make  the  construction  more  homo- 
genous, the  outside  walls  and  floors  were  to  be 
carried,  story  by  story,  independently  on  the  col- 
umns. 
5 


66 

General  Ducat  was  the  company's  representative 
in  Chicago  for  the  construction  of  this  building, 
and  we  were  daily  in  consultation.  I  explained  to 
him  the  construction  I  proposed  to  adopt,  which 
was  then  entirely  new,  and  which  grew  out  of  the 
necessities  of  the  case  presented  for  the  first 
time.  He  evidently  gave  the  matter  considerable 
thought.  I  often  noticed  him  studying  over  the 
drawings  an  hour  at  a  time,  without,  however,  ex- 
pressing any  opinion  in  regard  to  the  merits  of 
the  new  system. 

At  length  the  designs  were  completed.  The 
president  of  the  company,  Mr.  Charles  J.  Martin, 
the  chairman  of  the  building  committee,  Mr.  Car- 
ter, and  the  other  members  of  the  committee,  met 
in  my  office.  I  explained  the  designs.  President 
Martin  asked  where  there  was  such  a  building. 
I  replied,  that  that  building  would  be  the  first. 
As  business  men,  they  naturally  asked  how  I 
knew  that  it  would  be  successful,  and  the  best 
that  could,  under  the  circumstances,  be  devised? 
I  replied  that  I  was  ready  to  submit  my  designs 
and  calculations  to  any  eminent  bridge  engineers; 
that  the  construction  resembled  to  a  considerable 
extent  iron  railway  bridges  standing  on  end,  side 
by  side.  General  Ducat,  as  he  was  not  a  member 
of  the  committee,  requested  to  be  allowed  to  make 
a  few  remarks.  He  stated  that  he  was  an  engi- 
neer before  he  was  an  insurance  man;  he  had 
carefully  studied  the  designs,  during  their  prog- 
ress from  their  first  incipiency  to  their  comple- 
tion; that  he  had  informed  himself  in  regard  to 
every  detail;  that  up  to  the  present  time  he  had 


67 

given  no  opinion,  but  now  he  was  ready  to  en- 
dorse the  designs,  constructively  and  economically, 
and  recommend  that  they  be  adopted  and  the  work 
commenced.  The  motion  to  that  effect  was  made, 
seconded,  carried  unanimously,  and  the  contracts 
were  awarded. 

During  the  entire  construction  of  the  building 
he  was  the  representative  of  the  building  commit- 
tee in  Chicago,  and  as  the  company's  architect  I 
reported  directly  to  him.  He  took  a  most  active 
interest  in  every  minutia  of  the  details,  and  often 
made  valuable  suggestions. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  L.  B.  JENNEY. 


CHAPTER  XL 


ARMY-MADE  FRIENDS— MILITARY 
ORDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

Though  deeply  immersed  in  business,  and 
now  become  a  man  of  mark  in  civil  life,  Gen- 
eral Ducat  still  did  not  once  forget  his  old 
army  friends.  Many  of  them  at  a  distance,  he 
corresponded  with;  and  those  who  lived  in 
his  own  city  or  section  he  ever  sought  to  be 
on  friendliest  terms  with.  He  warmly  approved 
of  the  organization  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  was,  in  the  early  days  of  it,  a 


68 

frequent  visitor  at  some  of  its  posts.  And  he 
hailed  with  enthusiasm  the  Military  Order  of 
the  Loyal  Legion,  as  one  in  which  ex-officers 
would  be  sure  to  renew  and  perpetuate  army- 
made  friendships.  A  few  words  of  the  history 
of  this  order  will  suffice  to  show  how  much  he 
had  to  do  with  the  procuring  to  be  organized 
in  Chicago  the  Commandery  of  Illinois. 

In  1865,  the  year  in  which  the  war  closed, 
and  one  day  after  the  assassination  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  a  few  ex-officers  of  the  army — 
some  authorities  say  their  number  was  as  low 
as  three,  and  all  residents  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
— met  in  Independence  Hall,  of  that  city,  and 
devised'  a  scheme  for  a  commemorative  and  pa- 
triotic society,  whose  members  should  all  have 
held  commissions  in  the  army  or  navy  or  ma- 
rine corps  of  the  United  States.  A  constitution 
and  by-laws  were  framed,  officers  elected,  and 
from  that  day  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion,  U.  S.,  was  established.  The  first  elect- 
ed member  of  the  society  was  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, and  he,  at  the  moment  of  his  election, 
was  lying  dead  in  the  Executive  Mansion  at 
Washington.  He  never  having  held  a  com- 
mission in  the  army,  although  he  was  constitu- 
tional commander-in-chief  of  the  military  and 


69 

naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  he  was  neces- 
sarily elected  as  an  honorary  member  only. 
The  order  was  of  slow  growth  for  some  time, 
and  at  first  there  seemed  a  purpose  in  many 
influential  quarters  to  discourage  its  projectors 
and  advocates.  Here  and  there  the  historical 
fact  was  recalled,  that  the  very  similar  order 
that  Washington  and  the  officers  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary Army  founded — the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati — was  in  the  time  of  it  unpopular, 
and  that  its  members  were  accused  of  designs 
inimical  to  the  democratic  character  of  popular 
institutions.  The  principle  of  succession,  by 
which  the  eldest  son  of  a  member  should  be 
entitled  to  his  father's  place  on  his  death,  it 
was  pointed  out,  was  regarded  in  the  former 
time  with  general  and  extreme  disfavor;  and 
that  very  principle  of  succession  was  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  But  times 
had  a  good  deal  changed,  and  institutions 
somewhat,  and  soon  it  was  seen  that  the  ob- 
jection was  not  sustained  by  the  general  judg- 
ment. One  gallant  general*  after  another  be- 
came members,  and  here  and  there  a  popular 
colonel  or  major  or  captain  or  lieutenant  joined 
the  order;  and  soon  it  appeared  certain  that 


70 


nothing   was   likely  to   interrupt   the  order's 
progress. 

For  a  considerable  period  the  Pennsylvania 
Commandery,  at  Philadelphia,  was  the  only. 
one,  and  old  soldiers  residing  in  other  places 
were  obliged  to  make  application  for  member- 
ship in  the  "Acting  Chief  Commandery,"  at 
Philadelphia,  if  they  would  share  in  the  privi- 
leges and  honors  of  the  order.  Many  did  so 
make  application,  and  among  them  was  Lieu- 
tenant-General  P.  H.  Sheridan.  He  had 
known  General  Ducat  well  in  the  service,  and 
now  he  was  stationed  at  Chicago,  and  had  op- 
portunities of  seeing  his  friend  almost  daily. 
He  was  desirous  that  this  particular  army 
friend  of  his  should  too  become  a  member  of 
the  Loyal  Legion,  and  so  expressed  himself, 
and  volunteered  to  recommend  him  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Commandery.  He  accordingly 
wrote  the  following  letter: 

Chicago,  June  9,  1878. 

My  Dear  Col.  Mitchell:  It  gives  me  great  pleas- 
ure to  recommend  for  a  companionship  of  the 
first  class,  in  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Le- 
gion of  the  United  States  of  America  and  of  the 
Commandery  of  Pennsylvania,  General  Arthur  C. 
Ducat. 

I  have  known  General  Ducat  for  many  years. 


He  served  as  Inspector  General  of  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland,  during  most  of  the  time  I  was 
connected  with  that  army.  He  was  an  officer  of 
high  standing  and  distinguished  merit  during  that 
time  and  for  the  period  of  'the  war.  He  now 
commands  all  the  military  organizations  of  this 
state,  and  possesses  all  the  qualities  necessary  to 
make  him  a  desirable  member  of  the  order. 
Yours  truly, 

P.  H.  SHERIDAN, 

Lieutenant-General. 

To  Lieut.-Col.  S.  B.  Wylie  Mitchell,  Secretary 
of  L.  L.  U.  S. 

This  application  was  of  course  successful, 
both  on  account  of  the  influential  source  of  it, 
and  the  good  reputation  of  the  gentleman  so 
proposed  for  membership.  In  due  course  Gen- 
eral Ducat  was  advised  of  his  election;  he 
qualified  as  an  enrolled  companion,  and  more 
than  once  made  trips  to  Philadelphia  on  pur- 
pose to  be  present  at  meetings  of  the  order. 
He  soon  became  greatly  interested,  and  wished 
for  the  establishment  of  a  Commandery  at  Chi- 
cago. He  made  sure  that  other  old  soldiers 
of  this  city  would  be  glad  to  join  a  local  Com- 
mandery, and  then  wrote  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Commandery  for  information  how  to  proceed 
in  the  matter.  To  his  letter  he  received  a  reply, 
which  was  as  follows: 


72 

Military  Order  Loyal  Legion  U.  S. 
Headquarters,  Commandery  No.  1, 
State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Philadelphia,  January  8th,  1879. 
Col.  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  Chicago,  Illinois: 

Sir:  Your  communication  of  the  29th  ultimo, 
addressed  to  Brevet-Major-General  Wm.  D.  Whip- 
pie,  U.  S.  A.,  asking  how  to  proceed  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion 
in  Chicago,  has  been  referred  by  the  general  to  the 
undersigned,  as  the  Recorder  of  said  order,  with 
the  request  to  communicate  the  necessary  infor- 
mation. 

Accordingly  I  take  pleasure  in  sending  you  a 
copy  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws,  and  respect- 
fully invite  your  attention  to  the  following  arti- 
cles: 

V.,  p.  9,  on  members. 

VI.,  sec.  1,  p.  10,  on  election  of  members — and 
XXI.,  sec.  1,  p.  33,  on  district  commanders. 
If,  therefore,  you  forward  to  these  headquarters 
an  application  for  the  institution  of  a  Commandery 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,  it  should  be  signed  by,  at 
least,  thirteen  (13)  officers  or  ex-officers  of  the 
army  or  navy,  residents  of  Chicago;  and  be  ac- 
companied with  the  military  history  of  each.  As 
for  the  required  recommendations,  I  will  unite 
with  General  Whipple;  and  from  the  manner  in 
which  my  friend  Brevet-Lieut.-Col.  Kilburn  Knox 
of  the  army  has  on  several  occasions  spoken  of 
you,  in  this  connection,  to  me,  I  am  fully  assured 
he  will  vouch  for  any  one  that  you  may  propose 
for  membership. 


73 

The  enclosed  forms  explain  themselves. 

On  reference  to  Art.  VI.,  sec.  1,  p.  55  of  the 
by-laws,  you  will  perceive  that  this  order  is  neith- 
er now,  nor  never  will  be,  a  political  organization. 
Its  purposes  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  that 
almost  extinct  society  of  the  Revolution,  the  Order 
of  the  Cincinnati. 

Any  assistance  that  it  may  be  in  my  power  to 
render  you  in  this  matter  will  be  most  cheerfully 
accorded. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  acting  commandery- 
in-chief  of  the  order  will  be  held  on  February 
3d,  proximo. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Colonel,  very  respect- 
fully, Your  obedient  servant, 

S.  B.  WYLIE  MITCHELL, 
Recorder. 

Acting  on  information  contained  in  the 
above  letter,  General  Ducat  and  the  gentlemen 
interested  with  him  in  the  enterprise,  immedi- 
ately began  work  upon  the  preliminaries  for 
the  organization,  and  establishment  in  Chi- 
cago, of  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, of  the  Loyal  Legion.  The  organization 
was  effected  and  the  Commandery  instituted 
May  8,  1879.  Four  officers  and  ten  ex-officers 
appeared,  and  qualified  as  charter  members. 
These  were — Lieut-Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan, 
U.  S.  A.,  Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Delos  B.  Sacket,  U. 


S.  A.,  and  Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Rufus  Ingalls,  U.  S. 
A. ;  together  with  the  following,  all  of  the  U. 
S.  Volunteers:  Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  John  M.  Corse, 
Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Augustus  L.  Chetlain,  Bvt- 
Brig.-Gen.  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  Brig.-Gen.  Luther 
P.  Bradley,  Col.  John  Mason  Loomis,  Bvt- 
Lieut-Col.  James  J.  Hoyt,  Bvt.-Maj.  Taylor  P. 
Rundlet,  Bvt.-Lieut.-Col.  Henry  W.  Farrar, 
Bvt.-Maj.  George  T.  Burroughs,  and  Capt. 
James  C.  White.  The  first  commander  was 
Lieut.-Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan.  The  order 
rapidly  increased  its  numbers  after  the  first 
few  months  of  its  existence.  Of  elected  mem- 
bers, Capt.  Roswell  H.  Mason  is  the  senior, 
he  having  been  first  to  join  after  the  organiza- 
tion. Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  was  an  early  member; 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes  soon  joined,  as  also  did 
General  Logan  and  many  other  distinguished 
officers,  who  were  also  eminent  as  citizens. 
Captain  Richard  Robins  was  the  first  recorder. 
He  served  one  year,  when  Col.  C.  W.  Davis 
was  chosen  such  officer,  and  he  held  the  post 
continuously  until  within  the  present  year 
(1897),  when  he  resigned,  and  Capt.  R.  H.  Ma- 
son was  elected  to  succeed  him.  The  member- 
ship, which  at  the  beginning  was  only  four- 
teen, is  now  five  hundred  and  ninety-six. 


75 

General  Ducat  was  proud  of  his  connection 
with  this  patriotic  order,  and  for  his  fellow 
members  he  ever  entertained  very  warm  feel- 
ings of  friendship  and  regard.  These  feelings 
were  reciprocated  by  the  members,  as  was 
shown  in  many  ways  and  from  time  to  time. 
The  principal  offices  of  the  Commandery  were 
by  promotion  conferred  upon  him,  he  having 
been  elected  Junior  Vice-Commander  to  serve 
from  May,  1879,  to  May,  1880,  and  again  to 
the  same  office  to  serve  from  May,  1884,  to 
May,  1885.  He  was  Senior  Vice-Commander 
in  1885  for  one  year,  and  Commander  from 
1886  to  1887.  It  is  the  testimony  of  all  the 
members,  that  no  commander  the  order  has 
ever  had  has  surpassed  him  in  popularity  and 
influence. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  principle  of 
inheritance  in  the  constitution  of  the  Loyal 
Legion.  It  will  perhaps  be  a  surprise  to  some 
of  the  best  informed  members,  upon  matters 
connected  with  the  order,  to  learn  that  since 
the  Illinois  Commandery  was  instituted,  there 
have  been  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  cases 
of  membership  by  succession.  And  one  of 
these  is  that  of  Arthur  Charles  Ducat,  Jr.,  who 
was  educated  at  West  Point,  and  is  Captain 
in  the  Twenty-fourth  Infantry,  U.  S.  Army. 


76 

CHAPTER  XII. 


BUYS  TRACTS  OF  LAND— TRAVELS 
ABROAD. 

In  1868  General  Ducat  first  began  to  gratify 
his  inherited  passion  for  ownership  of  lands. 
Since  commencing  business  at  Chicago  his 
home  had  been  in  the  city,  and  sometimes  in 
the  West  Division,  sometimes  in  the  North 
Division,  but  his  constant  longing  was  to 
have  an  establishment  in  the  country.  The 
suburban  towns  were  then  all  new,  and  hardly 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  open  country 
which  surrounded  them.  Evanston,  now  the 
largest  of  Chicago's  suburbs,  had,  in  1868, 
not  many  inhabitants,  and  handsome  improve- 
ments there  were  few  and  far  between.  Its 
situation  close  by  the  great  lake  proved  very 
attractive  to  him,  and  accordingly  he  pur- 
chased lots  there  in  the  finest  portion  of  the 
town,  which  he  liberally  improved  by  the 
planting  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  the  laying 
off  and  cultivating  an  extensive  lawn.  He 
built  a  house  there  and  for  a  number  of  years 
it  was  his  home.  Evanston  was  growing  and 


77 

improving,  his  property  was  increasing  in 
value,  and  now  he  saw,  and  improved,  oppor- 
tunities to  invest  in  other  blocks  and  lots  in  the 
vicinity,  as  a  speculation.  In  time  he  became 
a  large  owner  of  land  at  different  points  along 
that  region  of  the  lake  shore.  Finally  he  dis- 
posed of  the  homestead  and  removed  from  the 
town,  though  he  still  owned  a  good  deal  of 
landed  property  there. 

General  Ducat  had  always  a  great  liking  for 
Geneva  Lake,  Wis.,  to  which  his  attention 
was  first  called  when  he  was  employed  in  rail- 
road surveys,  and  about  1870  he  purchased  a 
small  but  beautiful  tract  of  land  on  the  lake 
front.  His  improvements,  however,  were  very 
modest,  consisting  only  of  a  cottage,  boat- 
house  and  other  buildings.  He  was  exceed- 
ingly fond  of  boating,  and  he  organized  a 
Yachting  Club,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  and 
which  prospered  under  his  direction.  He  de- 
lighted' in  handling  the  boats  and  spent  a  great 
deal  of  time  on  the  water.  This  place  he  after- 
wards sold,  but  purchased  a  larger  tract  of 
land  in  the  vicinity  further  up  the  lake.  He 
did  not  improve  this,  but  added  to  its  size  by 
additional  purchases,  as  he  always  had  great 
faith  in  the  attractions  of  the  charming  lake 


78 


and  its  beautiful  borders,  and  so,  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  he  was  the  owner  of  many  choice 
sites  there  for  country  seats. 

General  Ducat  was  also  at  the  same  time 
interested  with  a  number  of  friends  in  the  Lin- 
den Heights  Association,  which  secured 
about  eight  hundred  acres  of  magnificent  farm 
and  forest  land  near  Downer's  Grove,  Du 
Page  County,  Illinois,  and  of  this  tract  he 
eventually  became  the  sole  owner  by  purchase 
from  the  other  stockholders. 

Preferring  a  country  residence  for  his  fam- 
ily he  built  a  house  on  his  property  in  Down- 
er's Grove.  There  he  lived  the  life  of  an  Eng- 
lish country  gentleman,  so  far  as  business 
would  allow  him.  An  enthusiastic  sportsman, 
he  took  great  interest  in  his  horses  and  dogs. 
Indeed  he  was  as  proud  as  he  was  fond  of  his 
dogs,  and  one  of  them,  "Brow"  by  name,  he 
thought  fine  enough  for  General  P.  H.  Sheri- 
dan to  own.  Accordingly  he  sent  him  as  a 
present  to  the  general  at  Washington,  where 
he  arrived  safely,  as  the  following  letter  will 
testify  : 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  23rd,  1888. 
My  Dear  General  Ducat:     The  dog  Brow  came 
through  to  us  all  right,  and  turns  out  to  be  a  beau- 


79 


tiful  animal.  Mrs.  Sheridan  and  myself,  and  all 
the  children,  send  to  you  our  sincere  thanks  for 
your  kindness  and  consideration.  We  fully  ap- 
preciate your  gift,  and  will  always-  keep  you  in  our 
memories,  and  on  my  part  not  only  from  the  old 
ties  of  the  War,  when  we  served  together,  but  also 
from  the  pleasant  relations  of  friendship  which 
have  always  been  in  our  hearts. 

Yours  very  truly, 
P.  H.  SHERIDAN. 

The  only  drawback,  at  this  period,  to  Gen- 
eral Ducat's  happiness  was  his  bad  health. 
Disease  that  he  contracted  in  the  army  was 
still  troubling  him  and  he  found  it  necessary  to- 
give  up  business  for  a  time  and  travel;  for  if 
he  remained  at  home,  so  pressing  and  pros- 
perous was  his  business,  that  he  could  not  well 
give  it  up  for  even  a  week.  It  was  not  the  first 
time  he  had  been  in  Europe  since  he  left  Ire- 
land for  the  United  States.  In  1873,  he,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Martin,  the  president  of  the 
Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York  (the 
company  which  the  General  particularly  repre- 
sented in  Chicago),  had  gone  to  Ireland  to 
view  the  old  homes  and  to  visit  in  Dublin;  and 
he  afterwards  traveled  on  the  continent.  Thus 
he  was  to  enjoy  and  profit  by  a  second  ex- 
tensive tour  in  foreign  lands.  He  made  a  con- 


so 

siderable  sojourn  in  Paris,  and  was  there  treat- 
ed for  his  ailments  by  the  best  physicians. 
After  an  absence  of  several  months,  he  re- 
turned home  apparently  improved  in  health, 
and  resumed  business. 

In  1888  a  pleasant  incident  occurred  at 
"Lindenwald,"  for  so  he  had  named  his  home 
at  Downer's  Grove,  in  a  visit  that  his  comrades 
and  friends  of  the  Loyal  Legion  paid  him. 
It  was  shortly  after  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  office  as  Commander  of  the  Order  in  Illi- 
nois. They  came  out  in  force  and  were  cor- 
dially, even  affectionately  welcomed,  and  royal- 
ly entertained.  He  liberally  provided  them 
with  pleasures  that  by  some  are  not  forgotten 
to  this  day. 

An  imperial  photograph,  finely  executed,  of 
the  ex-officers  of  the  Union  army,  grouped  in 
the  shade  of  old  trees  at  "Lindenwald,"  is 
made  one  of  the  historical  decorations  on  the 
walls  of  the  rooms  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  Illi- 
nois Commandery. 

Upon  the  company's  return  to  the  city,  a 
committee,  of  which  General  William  E. 
Strong  was  chairman,  was  raised  from  among 
the  gentlemen  named  in  the  foregoing  list  to 
make  to  General  Ducat  some  acknowledgment 


si 

of  his  splendid  hospitality.  The  letter  which 
the  committee  sent  him  shows  the  form  which 
the  acknowledgment  was  made  to  take: 

Chicago, 14th,  1888. 

General  Arthur  C.  Ducat, 

Downer's  Grove,  111. 

Dear  General:  In  behalf  of  all  your  companions 
of  the  Illinois  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion, 
your  guests  at  Downer's  Grove,  on  Saturday,  June 
23rd,  last,  I  send  with  this  a  "loving  cup."  It  is 
but  a  trifling  gift,  yet  it  may  serve  to  remind  you 
of  the  high  esteem  and  tender  regard  in  which  you 
are  held  by  all  your  companions  of  the  Loyal 
Legion.  In  sending  this  token  of  our  remembrance, 
we  also  bear  in  mind  that  the  pleasure  of  that  most 
hospitable  occasion  was  largely  due  to  the  pres- 
ence of  one  near  and  dear  to  you;  and  speaking  for 
those  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  and  by 
their  direction,  I  desire  to  convey  to  Mrs.  Ducat 
through  you,  their  grateful  appreciation  of  her 
grace  and  courtesy  towards  your  friends. 

Accept,  then,  dear  General,  this  cup,  and  with  it 
the  love  and  admiration  of  all  your  companions. 
They  hope  for  you  many  years  of  happiness  at 
your  beautiful  home,  and  the  fullest  measure  of  suc- 
cess in  every  enterprise  in  which  you  may  engage. 
Ever  sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  B.  STRONG, 
Chairman. 

e 


82 


But  General  Ducat  did  not  allow  himself 
many  holidays,  appointed  either  by  himself  or 
his  friends  ;  and  after  three  years  more  of  close 
attention  to  business,  his  health  seemed  about 
to  fail  him  again,  and  he  was  advised  by  his 
physicians  to  take  another  vacation.  He  ac- 
cordingly made  a  third  trip  to  Ireland,  Eng- 
land and  the  continent.  Again  after  a  few 
months'  absence,  he  returned  to  his  home, 
having  derived  some  benefit  from  his  travels, 
and  took  up  once  more  his  business  cares. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


ILLINOIS      MILITIA— DIVISION     OF 
NATIONAL  GUARD  OF  ILLINOIS. 

(If  successive  dates  were  followed,  the  present 
and  the  two  succeeding  chapters  should  have  place 
at  a  distance  back  in  this  volume.  But  as  the  sub- 
ject of  which  they  treat  is  military,  but  having  to 
do  only  with  a  single  State,  it  has  been  thought  best 
to  separate  them  by  some  space  from  the  chapters 
relating  to  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  and  to  the 
Army  of  the  United  States.  Besides,  it  would  ap- 
pear to  be  inconvenient  to  interrupt  the  general 
narrative  at  any  other  point  than  this,  to  insert  the 
present  chapters.) 


83 

Illinois,  which  had  been  one  of  the  first  of 
the  States  to  send  her  quota  of  fighting  men 
into  the  war  to  suppress  the  Rebellion,  was, 
after  the  close  of  the  war  slower  than  many  of 
the  States  to  provide  herself  with  an  improved 
and  adequate  militia.  Illinois  was  by  no  means 
exhausted  by  the  war;  but  there  was  a  result- 
ing lassitude  as  regarded  military  exertion  felt 
by  nearly  all  the  people  that  occasioned  the 
almost  total  loss  of  interest  in  the  remains  of 
the  old  militia.  The  law  under  which  the  en- 
feebled militia  was  with  difficulty  kept  organ- 
ized, was  not  then  of  recent  date  and  was  held 
to  be  antiquated.  In  1874  there  was  observed 
to  be  a  degree  of  socialistic  unrest  in  certain 
sections  of  the  population,  which  was  thought 
to  bode  evil,  and  which  before  the  year  was 
out,  actually  produced  evil  and  peril  in  the  fre- 
quent assemblage  of  angry  and  desperate  per- 
sons, who  threatened  to  disturb  the  peace  for 
the  purpose  of  plunder.  People  of  Chicago 
were  the  first  to  be  made  aware  of  the  perilous 
discontent,  and  to  take  the  alarm. 

The  thoughts  of  all  were  of  a  revived  militia. 
General  Ducat  was  among  the  foremost  of 
good  citizens  to  promote  the  raising  of  new 
military  companies  under  the  State  law,  in 


84 

place  of  those  that  had  been  disbanded  or  re- 
duced in  numbers  and  disciplined  below  the 
point  of  efficiency.  During  the  year  six  com- 
panies were  recruited  and  equipped  by  individ- 
ual subscription,  and  indifferently  armed  by 
the  State.  They  were  regimented  and  named 
the  First  Regiment.  In  the  winter  of  1874 
the  Legislature  revised  and  put  new  life  into 
the  existing  militia  law,  and  authorized  the 
raising  of  a  certain  number  of  battalions,  and 
the  appointment  of  as  many  brigadier-generals 
as  the  Governor  might  deem  best.  There  was 
now  a  full  brigade  of  soldiers  in  Chicago  and 
vicinity,  but  there  was  no  general  to  command 
it.  Arthur  C.  Ducat  was  the  unanimous  choice 
of  the  brigade,  and  of  the  non-military  portion 
of  the  people  as  well,  for  the  position — he 
was  the  Governor's  choice,  too — and  accord- 
ingly, on  April  8th,  1875,  Governor  Beveridge 
appointed  and  commissioned  him  Brigadier- 
General  of  the  Illinois  Militia.  In  the  mean- 
time the  First  Regiment  had  not  been  formally 
received  by  the  executive  of  the  State,  and  now 
a  day  was  appointed  for  the  ceremony,  which, 
it  was  arranged,  should  take  place  in  South 
Park,  then  just  outside  the  limits  of  Chicago. 
The  command  was  reviewed  by  Governor  Bev- 


85 

eridge,  Lieut.-Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan,  and  Brig.- 
Gen.  Ducat.  This  was  his  first  appearance 
before  the  brigade. 

General  Ducat  never  undertook  to  do  any- 
thing that  he  did  not  think  worth  the  doing 
well;  and  above  all  things,  he  regarded  an  in- 
efficient body  of  military  with  contempt.  He 
saw  by  a  glance  at  the  militia  law  that  no  really 
good  results  could  be  had  under  it.  He  re- 
solved quickly  that  if  his  exertions  could  avail, 
a  better  law  should  be  enacted.  For  a  year 
and  more  he  bent  his  energies  to  that  end. 
But  in  the  meantime  he  labored  diligently  to 
introduce  discipline  into  the  force  as  it  came 
to  his  hand,  and  it  is  impossible  not  to  credit 
him  with  doing  much.  Military  discipline  is  a 
term  that  was  not  well  understood  by  militia- 
men at  the  time,  and  numbers  of  them  thought 
to  give  their  General  trouble  on  that  score.  No 
doubt  some  of  the  General's  measures  were  of 
a  positive  and  radical  character— he  was  not 
a  man  to  permit  any  question  or  hesitation 
where  he  was  rightfully  in  command — and  yet, 
he  was  ever  submissive  to  superior  authority, 
exercised  in  the  interests  of  the  service.  Hence 
he  had  a  perfect  understanding  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, who  is  the  commander-in-chief.  When 


86 


he  was  complained  of  to  the  Governor  for 
some  of  his  acts  of  discipline,  he  waited  re- 
spectfully while  the  complaints  were  being  in- 
vestigated, but  at  the  same  time  he  had  ready 
his  resignation  in  case  the  decision  should  be 
against  enforcing  his  orders.  But  that  was  not 
the  decision;  the  Governor  sustained  him  in 
every  particular.  Thereupon  General  Ducat 
drew  up  and  submitted  a  more  perfect  plan  for 
the  organization  and  discipline  of  the  State 
troops,  which  the  adjutant-general  acknowl- 
edged was  of  immense  service  to  him.  In  that 
officer's  report  to  the  Governor  for  1875-6  is 
this  paragraph  :  "I  desire  here  to  say  that  great 
praise  is  due  to  Brig.-Gen.  Arthur  C.  Ducat, 
and  his  staff  officers,  for  the  able  and  effi- 
cient manner  in  which  they  have  performed 
their  duties.  This  department  is  largely  in- 
debted to  these  gentlemen  for  their  able  assist- 
ance and  generous  advice."  General  Ducat 
made  many  visits  throughout  the  State,  for  the 
purpose  of  inspecting  and  reviewing  the  differ- 
ent local  commands,  and  he  was  everywhere 
received  with  enthusiasm.  This  encouraged 
him  to  prepare  a  bill  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Legislature,  for  a  militia  law  that  should  af- 
ford a  revenue  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  necessi- 


87 

ties  of  the  service,  and  a  sanction  for  the  en- 
forcement of  discipline.  He  called  to  Chicago 
the  commanding  officers  of  the  regiments  and 
battalions  to  assist  in  the  preparation  of  the 
bill.  The  officers  did  not  heed  the  summons  in 
sufficient  numbers,  but  so  much  in  earnest  was 
the  general  that  he,  with  his  staff,  did  the  work 
he  had  intended  the  commission  should  do, 
and  by  the  time  the  Legislature  assembled 
the  new  bill  was  ready.  His  staff  was  com- 
posed of  his  friends,  and  all  of  them  experi- 
enced soldiers  of  the  late  war,  namely,  Colonel 
Waterman,  General  Strong,  Major  Coe,  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Collins  and  Dr.  Ben  C.  Miller, 
surgeon.  Then  the  General  prepared  and  is- 
sued a  circular  addressed  "To  the  members  of 
all  organized  companies  and  battalions  of  Il- 
linois Militia"  announcing: 

At  our  next  Legislature  a  new  militia  bill  will 
be  introduced,  of  which  the  principal  features  will 
be  a  yearly  appropriation  to  meet  the  expenses  for 
rent  of  armories,  ordnance  stores,  camp  equipage 
and  transportation  of  all  battalions  for  at  least  one 
yearly  muster,  and  for  ammunition  and  a  rifle  range 
for  practice,  with  an  allowance  per  diem  for  every 
man  who  shall  turn  out  upon  order,  and  with  such 
provisions  for  the  perfection  of  the  discipline  as 
may  secure  an  effective  and  creditable  soldier. 


88 

I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  necessity  of  a  better 
militia  organization  in  Illinois,  for  it  is  plain  to 
you  all  in  case  of  any  disturbance  or  riot,  especially 
in  our  large  cities,  the  community  would  be  com- 
paratively helpless,  and  at  the  mercy  of  mob  vio- 
lence, but  for  the  individual  efforts  already  put 
forth,  which  cannot  much  longer  be  sustained  with- 
out State  support. 

This  circular  is  sent  to  all  commanders  of  com- 
panies and  battalions  throughout  the  State,  in  the 
earnest  hope  that  this  movement  will  have  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  all.  If  every  company  as  a 
body,  will  take  such  action,  so  that  it  may  be 
known  that  its  influence  will  be  given  to  that  can- 
didate for  the  Legislature  who  will  pledge  himself 
to  vote  for  a  new  militia  bill,  it  will  be  carried  by 
an  overwhelming  majority,  and  we  shall  then  enter 
upon  an  entirely  new  phase  of  military  experience. 

The  General  commanding,  hopes  to  be  able  to  an- 
nounce before  long  that  all  infantry  troops  with- 
out an  exception,  will  be  armed  with  the  gov- 
ernment breech-loader,  and  that  a  general  muster 
will  be  had  as  early  as  in  the  summer  of  1877. 
ARTHUR  C.  DUCAT, 

Brigadier-General. 

The  General  sent  a  copy  of  the  bill  to  the 
adjutant-general,  and  a  letter  explaining  its 
provisions,  and  urging  upon  him  the  impor- 
tance of  its  becoming  a  law.  He  did  not  think 
it  perfect.  "There  was  nothing  left  for  me  to 


89 

do  but  to  get  up  a  bill  myself,  or  let  the  matter 
entirely  go  by  default.  The  result  was  that, 
by  giving  my  personal  attention  to  it,  and 
being  seconded  by  the  suggestions  of  my  staff, 
I  fixed  upon  the  present  bill  now  in  your 
hands.  We  none  of  us  think  it  perfect."  But 
he  did  not  want  it  amended  in  committee  or  in 
open  session.  The  point  with  him  was,  to  get 
something  passed  as  an  entering  wedge. 
"When  we  have  it  enacted  into  a  law,  then  at 
a  future  time  you  may  come  forward  with 
amendments."  He  had  never  been  a  member 
of  a  legislative  body,  but  he  knew  legislative 
tactics  and  chances  as  well  as  though  he  had 
practiced  them,  and  not  military  tactics,  all 
his  life.  Largely  by  his  insistence  the  bill  was 
passed,  and  received  the  Governor's  approval 
May  1 8,  1877.  There  was  a  new  Governor — 
Shelby  M.  Cullom — and  under  the  new  law  he 
was  required  to  appoint  and  commission  a  ma- 
jor-general of  the  Illinois  National  Guard. 


90 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


COMMISSIONED  MAJOR-GENERAL- 
ACTIVE  DUTY  TO  SUPPRESS  THE 
RIOTS  OF  1877. 

Governor  Cullom  at  once  appointed  Briga- 
dier-General Ducat  to  be  Major-General  of 
the  Division  of  Illinois  National  Guard,  and 
on  July  7  he  received  his  commission.  The 
great  "railroad  riots"  which  began  at  Pitts- 
burg,  Pa.,  the  last  of  June,  1877,  and  caused 
there  the  loss  of  many  lives  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  three  millions  of  property  in  buildings, 
and  then  swept  on  towards  Chicago,  reached 
here  with  apparently  unabated  fury  on  July 
28.  The  responsibility,  so  far  as  the  military 
was  concerned,  of  suppressing  them,  fell  upon 
General  Ducat.  He  was  at  Geneva  Lake,  Wis., 
when  a  telegram  reached  him  relative  to  the 
threatening  attitude  of  affairs.  He  lost  no 
time  in  coming  here,  arriving  that  same  day, 
and  immediately  assuming  command  of  the 
militia  quartered  here. 

That  night  a  meeting  of  so-called  working 
men  was  being  held  on  Market  Street.  Gen- 


eral  Ducat,  considering  the  inflammable  condi- 
tion of  public  sentiment  among  that  class, 
thought  it  unwise  to  permit  the  gathering  and 
recommended  that  it  be  dispersed  by  force, 
if  necessary.  Mayor  Heath  replied  that  hav- 
ing given  permission  for  the  meeting  to  be 
held  he  thought  it  unwise  to  interfere,  as  it 
would  infringe  on  popular  rights  and  might 
precipitate  violence. 

General  Ducat  then  suggested  that  the 
Mayor  proceed  to  the  place  of  meeting  and 
quietly  request  the  people  to  go  home.  If 
they  were  law-abiding  citizens  they  would 
obey  their  chief  magistrate ;  if  not,  they  should 
be  driven  with  bayonets,  or  bullets,  or  both. 

The  Mayor,  however,  refused  to  interfere. 

On  the  24th,  General  Ducat  telegraphed  to 
Governor  Cullom,  recommending  the  concen- 
tration of  troops  at  Chicago  in  view  of  the  out- 
rages committed  at  the  East,  and  for  fear  the 
railroads  might  be  unavailable  for  their  trans- 
portation later  on. 

Up  to  the  next  day  the  Mayor  was  opposed 
to  army  concentration,  but  at  that  period,  mat- 
ters became  more  threatening  and  he  urged 
the  sending  in  of  all  United  States  and  other 
troops  that  could  be  found. 


92 

On  the  26th  General  Ducat  telegraphed 
Governor  Cullom  information  that  there  were 
six  companies  of  the  Ninth  United  States  In- 
fantry at  Rock  Island,  which  could  be  used  at 
once  if  the  War  Department  were  so  request- 
ed. He  added  that  things  in  Chicago  "look 
nasty."  Governor  Cullom  made  the  necessary 
request  and  the  troops  came. 

In  fact,  every  order  issued  by  General  Ducat 
was  in  favor  of  action.  He  urged  the  Mayor, 
at  the  outset,  to  let  the  militia  settle  the  mob. 
Mayor  Heath  did  not  allow  it.  He  told  the 
Mayor  that  the  mob  would  gain  strength  if 
not  at  once  dispersed. 

On  the  27th  the  following  peremptory  order 
was  issued  to  General  Joseph  T.  Torrence 
commanding  the  First  Brigade: 

Division  Headquarters,  I.  S.  G., 

Chicago,  July  27th. 

General:  In  the  event  of  any  violence  toward 
the  police  or  military  in  dispersing  the  mob  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  city,  attack  with  vigor,  dis- 
perse and  drive  them,  making  all  the  arrests  possi- 
ble. By  order  of 

ARTHUR  C.  DUCAT, 
Major-General  Commanding. 
George  J.  Waterman,  Chief  of  Staff. 


93 

When  the  fight  broke  out  at  the  viaduct  the 
Mayor  was  asked  if  the  police  wanted  support. 
General  Ducat  offered  to  lead  a  regiment  in 
person,  but  that  was  considered  unnecessary. 

In  regard  to  the  distribution  of  troops  at 
threatened  points  detachments  were  sent  to 
Chicago  Avenue  and  Milwaukee  Avenue  to 
support  the  police.  Three  companies  were 
sent  to  Halsted  Street  viaduct  and  three  com- 
panies to  the  Twelfth  Street  station. 

The  other  troops  were  held  in  mass,  so  as 
to  be  available  in  case  of  an  attack  in  force 
by  the  insurgents  on  the  business  portion  of 
the  south  side,  where  banks,  express  offices, 
and  stores  would  be  in  danger  of  being  gutted. 
It  was  thought  best  not  to  split  the  soldiers  up 
into  small  detachments  as  the  force  numbered 
only  five  hundred  men  all  told,  certainly  not  a 
very  gigantic  body  of  defenders  for  so  large  a 
city.  The  General  asked  no  advice  in  the  dis- 
position of  his  troops,  and  did  not  consider 
any  necessary.  He  was  at  all  times  prepared 
to  disperse  mobs,  if  permitted,  as  the  orders 
and  recommendations  on  file  plainly  showed. 
He  would  have  defended  the  city  without  per- 
mission if  it  had  been  seriously  threatened,  and 


94 

he  considered  it  would  have  been  poor  military 
policy  to  have  acted  in  any  other  manner. 

The  presence  in  the  city  at  the  head  of  the 
military  of  General  Ducat,  ready  and  vigorous 
as  he  was,  necessarily  dwarfed  for  a  time  the 
civil  authorities,  and  some  of  them  naturally 
sought  occasion  to  attach  blame  in  some  way 
to  him  for  his  energetic  conduct.  The  news- 
papers professed  to  quote  the  Mayor  as  having 
expressed  himself  in  disparaging  terms  of  the 
General.  He  was  out  of  town  on  the  day  of 
the  publication  but  as  soon  as  he  had  returned 
he  sent  to  the  offending  newspapers  the  fol- 
lowing correction: 

Mayor's  Office,  Chicago,  August  13th,  1877. 
A  statement  reflecting  upon  the  character  of  Gen- 
eral A.  C.  Ducat  during  the  late  commotion  in  Chi- 
cago, and  prominently  published  in  your  paper  of 
31st,  July  ult.,  has  been  handed  to  me  to-day.  I 
take  my  earliest  opportunity,  after  an  absence  from 
the  city  of  ten  days,  to  personally  write  you  and 
refute  the  charges  and  insinuations  in  that  article. 
The  conduct  of  General  Ducat  in  the  late  riots  in 
this  city  was  that  of  a  brave  and  conscientious  sol- 
dier, and  in  that  respect  he  is  entitled  to  the  thanks 
of  the  entire  law-abiding  community,  and  not  to 
censure.  MONROE  HEATH, 

Mayor. 


95 


The  foregoing  paragraphs  are,  in  the  main, 
but  a  summary  of  Major-General  Ducat's  of- 
ficial report  upon  the  suppression  of  the  riots 
which  duty  required  him  to  submit  to  the  Ad- 
jutant-General of  the  State.  This  report  con- 
tains the  only  authentic  account  extant  of 
what  took  place  in  that  anxious  time. 

The  expedition  commanded  by  General 
Ducat  was  directed  to  Braidwood,  against  the 
riotous  miners  at  that  point.  At  other  coal- 
mining and  manufacturing  places  over  the 
State  the  insurrection  was  general  and  ugly, 
and  the  men  engaged  in  it  were  all  in  a  way 
connected.  It  was  the  policy  to  mass  the 
troops  against  them  at  a  principal  seat  of  their 
operations  and  crush  them,  believing  that  that 
would  dishearten  all  the  others.  When  it  is 
considered  that  the  territory  of  Illinois  is 
larger  than  Ireland  and'  Scotland  put  together, 
and  one-third  as  large  as  France,  and  that  the 
troops  commanded  by  General  Ducat  num- 
bered only  about  three  thousand,  it  will  be 
seen  that  his  task  was  a  difficult  one.  But  he 
succeeded  perfectly  at  Braidwood,  and  in  a  few 
days  the  rioters  everywhere  subsided.  Peace 
was  restored  and  manufacturing  industries 
were  resumed. 


96 

Appended  to  General  Ducat's  official  report 
were  the  following  recommendations: 

Headquarters  Division,  I.  N.  G. 
Chicago,  November,  1878. 

General:  I  have  the  honor  to  respectfully  rec- 
ommend as  follows: 

That  the  infantry  of  the  State  be  raised  to  ten 
thousand  men,  consisting  of  twenty  regiments,  in 
four  brigades  and  one  division;  that  to  each  regi- 
ment be  added  one  Gatling  gun,  to  be  manned 
from  a  detail  of  each  regiment;  and  that  to  each 
brigade  be  added  one  field  battery  of  six  guns, 
consisting  of  four  Napoleon  and  two  three-inch 
rifle  guns. 

That  the  cavalry  be  raised  to  two  regiments, 
one  regiment  at  Chicago,  one  battalion  at  Quincy, 
one  battalion  at  Peoria,  and  one  battalion  at 
Springfield. 

That  full  field  equipage  for  two  brigades  be  pro- 
vided and  kept  ready  for  service,  one  at  Spring- 
field and  one  at  Chicago. 

That  two  State  arsenals  and  magazines  be  built, 
one  at  Springfield  and  one  at  Chicago. 

That  State  armories  be  built  at  points  where 
there  is  a  regiment. 

That  every  effort  be  made  to  have  a  well  di- 
gested and  sufficient  military  code  adopted  by  the 
State,  making  full  provisions  for  the  support  and 
equipment  of  the  troops  and  the  enforcement  of 
proper  military  discipline,  in  which  the  present 
code  is  very  deficient. 

That  steps  be  taken  to  influence  the  appropria- 


97 

tion  by  the  General  Government  of  a  sufficient  sum 
to  arm  and  equip  and  help  sustain  the  militia  of 
the  States  upon  a  thorough  and  efficient  military 
footing. 

That  steps  be  taken  to  Influence  the  change  of 
laws  and,  if  necessary,  the  constitution,  to  prevent 
the  carrying  of  arms  by  bodies  of  men  other  than 
the  army  of  the  United  States,  the  militia  of  the 
States  and  municipal  forces,  and  to  prevent  the 
meetings  of  bodies  of  men  who  are  professed  agi- 
tators or  of  dangerous  character,  likely  to  disturb 
the  peace  or  threaten  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
people. 

The  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States 
were  framed  for  patriots,  and  at  a  time  when  al- 
most the  whole  population  was  a  unit  in  its  desire 
for  the  welfare,  success  and  peace  of  the  new  re- 
public. 

Since  then  many  agitators  and  advocates  of  the- 
ories dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  country  and 
to  society  have  drifted  to  our  shores,  invited,  per- 
haps, by  the  liberty  so  freely  offered  and  which 
they  are  disposed  to  abuse.  Our  country  is  no 
longer  new;  it  is  subject  to  all  the  dangers  of  sur- 
plus population;  and,  if  law  and  order  and  peace 
are  to  be  maintained,  there  must  be  power  and 
force.  Laws  are  of  little  value  without  the  power 
to  enforce  them. 

It  is  very  probable  that  much  confidence  would 
be  restored,  and  the  present  depressed  state  of 
business  much  relieved,  if  the  people  felt  that  they 
were  secure  and  protected  in  working  the  indus- 
tries of  the  country. 
7 


98 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

ARTHUR  C.  DUCAT, 
Major-General  Commanding  Division. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


POLITICS— GENERAL  DUCAT  RE- 
SIGNS FROM  THE  MILITIA. 

During-  the  progress  of  the  riots,  which 
caused  great  excitement  throughout  the  State, 
the  militia,  organized  as  a  division  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard,  was  seen  to  be  the  only  depend- 
ence of  the  people  for  the  restoration  of  order 
and  the  future  preservation  of  peace.  The 
prompt  manner  in  which  it  responded  to  the 
call  of  the  Executive  of  the  State  and  its  splen- 
did, though  prudent,  conduct  in  the  field, 
earned  for  officers  and  men  the  applause  and 
thanks  of  the  citizens.  Heretofore  politics  had 
not  entered  into  calculations  or  plans  of  those 
who  composed  the  Guards,  nor  of  their  best 
supporters  and  friends.  But  now  that  the 
Guards  had  become  a  powerful  and  admired 
body,  mostly  of  young  men,  with  homes  and 
local  influence  in  every  town  and  precinct,  the 
politicians  began  systematic  scheming  to  get 


99 

possession  of  the  source  of  authority  over  the 
entire  organization.  Two  years  before,  when 
the  bill  for  a  new  militia  law  was  in  the  Legis- 
lature, some  of  the  more  grasping  politicians 
then  saw  the  possibilities  to  them  in  the  law, 
if  amended  in  their  interest.  But  for  the  time 
they  were  forced  by  General  Ducat  to  keep 
their  hands  off;  his  urgent  appeals  by  letter 
and  in  person,  to  the  Legislature  and  the  pub- 
lic, secured  the  passage  of  the  bill — a  bill  which 
was  not  perfect,  as  its  framer  admitted. 

The  imperfections  of  the  law  were  made  still 
more  evident  while  the  sporadic  insurrection, 
known  to  history  as  the  riots  of  1877,  gravely 
troubled  the  State.  Plainly  the  law  needed  to 
be  amended;  the  question  was,  should  it  be 
amended  by  the  enemies  or  the  friends  of  a 
non-partisan  militia?  General  Ducat  took  the 
initiative,  by  calling  a  convention  of  all  the  field 
officers,  with  a  view  to  the  drafting  a  new 
bill  that  should,  at  any  rate,  have  none  of  the 
defects  of  the  then  existing  law.  The  conven- 
tion harmoniously  prepared  such  a  bill,  and 
when  the  Legislature  came  together  it  was  in- 
troduced and  sent  to  the  committee.  A  great 
deal  too  much  time,  General  Ducat  thought, 
was  taken  for  its  consideration  in  the  commit- 


ioo 

tee ;  and  he  wrote  to  the  chairman,  and  influ- 
ential members  of  the  two  houses,  requesting 
and  urging  that  it  be  looked  after,  reported, 
and  put  in  the  way  of  a  speedy  passage.  At 
last  it  was  reported,  and  there  was  rejoicing 
among  the  Guards  everywhere,  and  no  less 
was  there  gladness  among  the  people  at  large. 
But  the  friends  of  the  militia  were  to  have 
a  bitter  disappointment.  The  bill  that  went 
to  the  committee  was  not  the  bill  that  came 
from  the  committee — it  had  been  materially 
changed — "amended"  out  of  recognition  by  its 
original  framers.  As  soon  as  the  nature  of 
this  bill  became  known,  there  was  a  loud  pro- 
test from  the  militia.  The  newspapers  through- 
out the  State  exposed  its  sinister  features ;  and 
the  Citizens'  Association  of  Chicago,  which 
embraced  a  hundred  or  more  of  the  leading 
citizens,  took  up  the  matter,  and  caused  a  pro- 
test and  petition  to  be  circulated  for  signatures 
in  all  the  large  cities,  as  follows: 

To  the  Members  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 

Illinois: 

We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  have  seen  during  the  past  two  years  the 
friendly  and  successful  efforts  of  the  Major-Gen- 
eral commanding  the  division  of  the  National 
Guard,  and  the  brigadier-generals  commanding  the 


101 

brigades,  to  bring  the  Illinois  National  Guard  to  a 
state  of  commendable  efficiency. 

We  understand  a  bill  is  before  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  providing  a  military  code 
for  the  State,  and  purporting  to  be  a  bill  from  a 
committee  of  the  officers  of  the  National  Guard, 
legislating  out  of  office  the  Major-General  com- 
manding the  division,  and  in  no  manner  fairly  rep- 
resenting the  views  of  that  committee,  nor  those 
of  the  officers  and  men  composing  the  National 
Guard,  nor  of  the  citizens  interested  in  its  well 
being. 

That  we  hereby  desire  to  remonstrate  against 
any  bill  abolishing  the  office  of  major-general  com- 
manding the  division  of  the  Illinois  National 
Guard,  and  placing  his  authority  in  the  Adjutant- 
General,  an  officer  appointed  by  the  Governor  and 
removable  at  his  will,  as  being  unmilitary  and  cal- 
culated to  destroy  the  efficiency  of  the  Illinois  Na- 
tional Guard. 

We  therefore  petition  your  honorable  body  to 
retain  the  office  of  major-general  commanding  the 
division,  and  to  reduce  the  rank  of  the  Adjutant- 
General  from  major-general  to  that  of  colonel. 

General  Ducat,  in  a  letter,  hit  the  nail  on  the 
head  by  saying  that  the  bill  was  "not  only  in 
opposition  to  all  the  principles  involved  in  cor- 
rect military  organization,  but  it  was  a  danger- 
ous accumulation  of  power  in  the  hands  of  a 
politician — for  such  would  be  the  position  of 
the  Adjutant-General  in  case  this  monstrosity 


102 

became  law."  But  all  to  no  purpose;  the  pol- 
iticians were  bent  on  having  it  their  own  way. 
One  feature  of  the  bill  was  popular,  that  dis- 
arming independent  military  companies  when 
on  parade.  Pending  the  consideration  of  the 
bill  in  the  Legislature,  there  was,  on  Sunday, 
April  20,  the  anniversary  of  the  Paris  Com- 
mune, a  great  communistic  parade  in  Chicago. 
In  the  parade  were  twelve  hundred  uniformed 
men  in  companies  and  battalions,  four  hun- 
dred of  whom  were  armed  with  breech-load- 
ing rifles.  This  demonstration  caused  much 
excitement  in  the  city  and  State,  which  served 
to  concentrate  attention  upon  the  disarming 
clause  of  the  pending  military  bill,  which  soon 
passed  both  houses  of  the  Legislature,  and 
was  approved  by  the  Governor.  The  new  law 
was  not  immediately  to  go  into  effect,  but  Gen- 
eral Ducat  immediately  resigned.  On  June, 
1879,  he  with  his  staff  retired  from  the  military 
service  of  the  State. 

Major  H.  O.  Collins,  who  was  a  valued 
member  of  the  staff,  has  paid  this  tribute  of 
praise  to  his  commander:  "During  the  time 
General  Ducat  was  in  command,  the  greatest 
cordiality  prevailed  between  him  and  the  offi- 
cers and  men  of  the  different  regiments  and 
brigades.  Many  of  them  had  fought  with 


103 


him  through  the  campaigns  of  the  war,  and 
they  were  quick  to  seize  upon  his  ideas  for  the 
organization  of  the  militia,  and  they  afforded 
him  assistance  without  which  his  efforts  would 
have  been  futile.  The  general  rules  for  the 
government  of  militia,  established  by  him, 
have  been  practically  adopted  in  the  Adjutant- 
General's  Department,  and  their  influence  will 
be  felt  in  the  control  of  the  troops  as  long  as 
our  present  system  of  State  militia  shall  exist." 
Upon  the  receipt  of  General  Ducat's  resig- 
nation by  the  Governor  he  addressed  to  the 
retiring  officer  the  following  letter: 

State  of  Illinois,  Executive  Mansion, 

Springfield,  June  15,   1879. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  favor  of  the  9th  inst.  has  been 
received  tendering  your  resignation  as  Major-Gen- 
eral  Commanding  Division  of  Illinois  National 
Guard,  which  is  accepted. 

Thanking  you  for  your  attention  and  devotion  to 
duty  while  you  have  held  the  commission  as  Major- 
General,  and  regretting  that  I  shall  be  deprived  of 
your  aid  in  the  military  service  during  the  re- 
mainder of  my  term  of  service  as  Chief  Executive, 
I  am,  with  great  respect,  very  truly  yours, 

SHELBY  M.  CULLOM, 

Governor. 
Major-General  Arthur  C.  Ducat, 

Chicago,  Illinois. 


104 

CHAPTER   XVI. 


TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA— LIFE  ATLIN- 
DENWALD. 

During  the  years  1892-93,  General  Ducat's 
health  again  failed  and  he  felt  compelled  to  ex- 
ercise great  care  to  preserve  such  strength  of 
body  as  he  still  retained.  He  continued  to  give 
attention  to  business  and  was  not  many  days 
absent  from  his  office  desk;  but  his  physical 
condition  warned  him  that  he  must  abate 
somewhat  his  professional  activities.  His 
friends,  and  especially  his  old  army  friends, 
visited  him  often  at  his  country  home  and  a  de- 
gree of  good  fellowship  was  maintained.  So 
matters  went  on  with  him  until  the  fall  of  1891, 
when  his  ailments  increased,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  take  the  advice  of  his  physicians  and 
intermit  his  labors  in  the  city.  In  Decem- 
ber he  was  further  advised  to  make  a  trip  to 
California,  with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of 
his  health.  Taking  his  family  with  him,  he 
went  to  San  Diego,  Cal.,  and  spent  the  winter 
there  and  in  the  vicinity. 

Returning  in  the  following  spring  to  the 
East,  General  Ducat  and  his  family  again  took 


105 

up  their  residence  at  Lindenwald.  The  Gen- 
eral was  now  able  to  re-engage  in  business,  but 
he  found  it  necessary  to  be  more  sparing  of  his 
strength  than  formerly,  and  gave  considerably 
less  attention  to  the  details  of  the  business. 
He  had  therefore  more  time  to  devote  to  his 
family,  and  to  the  enjoyments  of  art  and  litera- 
ture. He  was  a  clever  artist  and  an  expert 
amateur  photographer. 

He  had  not  forgotten  California,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1893,  he,  with  his  family,  went  out 
there  again,  to  repeat  the  riding  and  the  boat- 
ing, and  some  of  the  excursions  of  two  years 
before.  On  this  visit  to  the  golden  coast  he 
was  so  well  pleased  that  he  decided  that  he 
would  like  to  make  a  home  somewhere  there 
for  himself,  and  before  the  wmter  was  out 
(1894)  he  had  purchased  an  acre  lot  on  the 
villa-crowned  hill  back  of  San  Diego,  upon 
which  it  was  his  intention  to  some  day  build 
a  suitable  house.  He  selected  well,  for  from 
his  lot  are  had  glimpses  of  the  beautiful  bay, 
and  grand  views  of  the  mountains  in  the  rear 
and  of  the  ocean  in  front.  In  the  spring, 
again,  he  returned  to  Lindenwald. 

Still  his  health  was  poor,  and  he  was  ex- 
tremely disinclined  to  resume  work.  He  gave 


106 

increased  attention  to  Lindenwald,  to  add,  if 
possible,  to  its  attractions;  and  he  gave  some 
care  to  another  tract  of  land  adjacent  to  the 
homestead,  which  he  had  lately  purchased.  He 
read  more  and  more  in  his  library,  and  his  vis- 
its to  the  city  were  made  at  longer  intervals. 
In  November,  1895,  he  asked  his  business 
partner  and  friend  to  relieve  him  of  even  a 
nominal  connection  with  the  office ;  and  in  that 
month  and  year  the  long-existing  partnership 
was  dissolved.  And  now  once  more  he  began 
to  think  of  California,  and  he  actually  com- 
menced planning  to  build  on  his  property  at 
San  Diego,  where  he  hoped  to  settle  down  with 
his  family. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 


LAST  ILLNESS  AND  DEATH. 
MEMORIAL  NOTICES. 

During  the  last  days  of  January,  1896,  Gen- 
eral Ducat  was  not  much  in  Chicago,  and  when 
he  did  occasionally  go  into  the  city,  he  told 
one  or  another  of  his  friends  that  he  was  not 
feeling  well.  These  friends  thought  him  look- 
ing as  well  as  usual  and  said  as  much  to  him ; 
but  all  they  could  say,  did  not  rouse  him  out  of 


107 

his  state  of  evident  depression.  On  the  22d  of 
January  he  was  in  the  city,  and  though  he  ap- 
peared in  his  usual  health  he  complained  of 
being  ill.  It  was  a  cold  afternoon,  but  he  was 
obliged  to  ride  some  distance  in  a  street  car, 
and  as  the  car  was  crowded,  he  stood  on  the 
front  platform.  Arrived  at  his  home  that 
evening  he  was  taken  with  a  chill  and  soon  re- 
tired to  bed.  The  next  day  the  physicians  pro- 
nounced it  a  case  of  pneumonia,  and  although 
everything  that  medical  skill  could  suggest 
was  tried  to  arrest  the  disease,  he  rapidly  grew 
worse  till  the  27th,  when  he  rallied  and  seemed 
to  improve;  but  on  the  next  day  the  malady 
with  which  he  was  stricken  became  compli- 
cated with  heart  failure,  and  he  rapidly  sank 
until  the  29th,  when  he  died. 

The  news  of  his  death  was  received  in  the 
city  as  a  shock,  for  very  few  had  heard  of  his 
illness.  The  newspapers  all  had  extended 
notices  of  his  death,  and  eulogistic  observa- 
tions upon  his  life  and  character;  and  on  the 
same  day,  or  shortly  after,  several  organized 
bodies  of  citizens,  civil,  benevolent  and  mili- 
tary, met  and  adopted  memorial  papers  in  re- 
gard to  the  deceased. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  on  January 


108 

3 ist  in  the  chapel  at  Rose  Hill.  Bishop  Mc- 
Laren of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
(the  church  to  which  General  Ducat  belonged) 
officiated.  The  immediate  relatives  in  attend- 
ance were  the  widow,  Lieutenant  Arthur  Du- 
cat and  Mrs.  C.  R.  Stivers. 
The  pallbearers  were: 

Maj.  G.  L.  Paddock, 

E.  C.  Waller, 

R.  N.  Trimming-ham, 

Judge  Eugene  Carey, 

Gen.  Wm.  Sooy  Smith, 

Gen.  John  McArthur, 

Col.  C.  W.  Davis, 

Chas.  F.  Grey, 

George  M.  Lyon. 


MEMORIAL  NOTICES  BY  ASSOCIA- 
TIONS AND  PUBLIC  BODIES  ON 
THE  DEATH  OF  GENERAL  DUCAT. 

The  action  taken  by  the  Underwriters'  As- 
sociation was  reported  in  the  city  newspapers, 
as  follows: 

The  Underwriters'  Association  yesterday  (Jan. 
29)  met  in  special  session  to  take  action  relative 


109 

to  the  death  of  Gen.  A.  C.  Ducat.  A  large  number 
of  representative  insurance  men  were  present.  A 
committee  consisting  of  Thomas  Goodman,  H.  H. 
Brown,  A.  J.  Harding,  Charles  W.  Drew,  and  W.  H. 
Cunningham  presented  the  following  memorial  of 
General  Ducat,  and  it  was  ordered  spread  on  the 
records  of  the  association: 

The  underwriters  of  this  city  were  yesterday 
shocked  to  hear  of  the  death  of  our  friend  and  fel- 
low-underwriter, Arthur  C.  Ducat — a  warm-heart- 
ed, generous,  noble  Christian  man,  one  whose  life 
was  never  tainted  by  any  conduct  which  was  un- 
manly or  unprofessional.  As  an  underwriter  and  a 
man  he  was  without  reproach,  and  constituted  a 
worthy  example  for  others  in  the  same  profession. 
He  was  born  in  Dublin,  Feb.  24, 1830,  of  Scotch  par- 
ents. After  enjoying  the  advantages  of  good  schools 
in  his  native  city,  he  emigrated  to  this  country. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  became  a  civil  engineer. 
Before  the  Civil  War  he  became  secretary  and 
general  surveyor  of  the  old  Chicago  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters. At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  18t>l 
he  enlisted  in  the  military  service  of  his  adopted 
country.  His  courage,  zeal,  and  good  judgment 
were  such  that  from  one  step  to  another  he  was 
promoted  till  he  became  a  general. 

After  the  war,  the  Home  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York  secured  his  services  as  local  agent  in 
this  city,  and  after  a  while  as  general  agent  for 
several  States,  in  which  service  he  was  associated 
with  George  M.  Lyon,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Ducat  &  Lyon. 


no 

The  General  had  his  trials  and  beveavements, 
but  amid  them  all  he  bore  himself  as  one  who  real- 
ized that  this  world  is  not  an  abiding  place.  Years 
ago  he  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Evanston,  from  which  place  he  removed  his  resi- 
dence to  Downer's  Grove.  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  Association  sincerely 
mourns  the  loss  of  one  so  highly  esteemed,  and 
who  for  so  many  years  was  a  reliable  underwriter; 
and 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  his  widow  and 
family  our  sympathy,  and  we  trust  that  He  who 
does  not  willingly  afflict,  will  give  the  consolation 
of  His  grace  and  help  them  to  bear  their  affliction. 

The  newspaper  report  continues: 

Brief  speeches  were  made,  expressive  of  the 
feeling  that  was  manifest  in  the  meeting,  by  B.  M. 
Teall,  J.  C.  Griffiths,  Thomas  S.  Chard,  Abram 
Williams,  Conrad  Witkowsky,  C.  H.  Case  and 
Thomas  Goodman. 

It  was  voted  to  engross  the  memorial  and  send 
a  copy  to  the  family;  also  to  contribute  floral  of- 
ferings, and  to  attend  the  funeral  at  Rosehill  in 
a  special  car  provided  for  the  members  of  the  as- 
sociation. 

September  29-30,  1896,  the  Fire  Under- 
writers' Association  of  the  Northwest  held  its 
twenty-seventh  annual  meeting.  On  the  sec- 
ond day  the  association  listened  to  a  report  of 


in 

the  obituary  committee  on  the  death  of  Gen- 
eral Ducat.  It  was  lengthy  and  able,  recount- 
ing his  services  in  both  military  and  civil  life, 
and  closing  with  this  paragraph: 

The  committee  feel  that  It  is  fitting  here  at  this 
time  thus  to  recall  the  various  acts  of  usefulness 
done  by  our  associate.  As  we  recall  the  life-work 
of  our  friend,  his  faithful  service  to  his  adopted 
country,  his  zealous  labors  as  a  citizen  of  this 
State  and  city,  and  his  contributions  to  the  busi- 
ness of  underwriting,  we  feel  more  deeply  the  great 
loss  we  have  sustained  by  his  death.  Those  of  us 
who  knew  the  General  more  intimately,  and  whose 
acquaintance  with  him  was  in  social  intercourse, 
know  how  sincere  and  faithful  he  was  in  his  friend- 
ships, and  how  generous  and  charitable  he  was  in 
his  dealings,  and  how  loving  a  heart  he  had,  and 
how  ready  he  was  to  aid  in  all  benevolent  work. 

We  revere  his  memory,  and  we  tender  his  fam- 
ily our  sincere  condolence. 

ABRAM  WILLIAMS, 
J.  C.  GRIFFITHS, 
H.  H.  WALKER, 

Committee. 

At  the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  "Loyal 
Legion,"  after  the  death  of  General  Ducat,  ap- 
propriate action  was  taken,  and  certified  to 
in  a  formal  manner.  The  certification  and  me- 
morial are  the  following: 


112 

MILITARY  ORDER 

of  the 

LOYAL    LEGION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES, 
Commandery  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Chicago,  111.,  March  20,  1896. 
At  a  stated  meeting  of  this  Commandery,  held 
on  the  twelfth  day  of  March,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-six,  the  accompanying  report  of  a  commit- 
tee appointed  to  prepare  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  our  late  Commander,  Lieut.-Col.  and 
Bvt.   Gen.   Arthur  Charles  Ducat,   was  read  and 
adopted. 
By  order  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

ALDACE  F.  WALKER, 

Commander. 
CHARLES  W.  DAVIS, 

Lieut. -Col.,  Recorder. 


ARTHUR  CHARLES  DUCAT. 
Arthur  Charles  Ducat  was  born  February  24th, 
1830,  near  Dublin,  Ireland,  to  which  place  his  fa- 
ther had  some  years  before  removed  from  Scotland. 
In  Dublin  he  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  a  solid  edu- 
cation. Before  reaching  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
resolved  to  come  to  America;  he  carried  out  that 
purpose  and  eventually  took  up  his  permanent 
abode  at  Chicago.  Here  and  hereabouts  he  spent 
some  time  in  study  and  field  work  as  a  civil  en- 
gineer before  entering  upon  his  lifelong  pursuit — 
that  of  fire  assurance.  In  this  vocation  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war  he  was  fast  gaining  the  respect 
of  his  associates  and  superiors,  and  through  the 


113 

discipline  of  obedience  fast  acquiring  the  capacity 
for  leadership. 

In  1861  he  heard  the  call  of  his  adopted  country, 
and  gave  to  her  appeal  a  clear  and  instant  re- 
sponse. Enlisting  at  Chicago  April  17,  he  was,  a 
few  days  later,  mustered  into  the  Twelfth  Illinois 
Infantry  Volunteers.  Promoted  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, he  became  Adjutant  of  that  regiment  on  May 
2d,  1861;  he  was  commissioned  Captain  of  Com- 
pany A,  August  1st,  1861;  Major,  September  24th, 
1861;  Lieut.-Colonel,  April  1st,  1862.  During  the 
period  of  his  duty  with  the  Twelfth  Illinois  he 
served  in  Southern  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
and  in  the  movements  of  General  Grant's  forces  in 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  and  was  especially  dis- 
tinguished at  the  siege  and  capture  of  Port  Donel- 
son.  But  shortly  after  the  taking  of  Corinth  there 
opened  for  Colonel  Ducat  that  larger  military  ca- 
reer for  which  by  character  and  education  he  was 
so  admirably  fitted — a  career  in  which  he  was  des- 
tined to  render  great  service  to  the  Union  cause. 
Detached  from  his  regiment,  he  was  ordered  upon 
staff  duty  at  the  headquarters  of  Major-General 
Ord,  and  with  that  officer  was  present  at  the  oper- 
ations near  luka  in  September,  1862. 

At  the  battle  of  Corinth,  in  the  following  month, 
he  served  under  General  Rosecrans  as  acting  Chief 
of  Staff  and  Chief  of  Grand  Guards  and  Outposts, 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 
an  active  and  responsible  position  as  understood 
and  filled  by  so  intelligent  and  enterprising  an  offi- 
cer. Sparing  in  this  arduous  service  neither  labor 
8 


114 


nor  personal  risk,  he  did  much  to  improve  and  reg- 
ulate that  important  branch  of  the  service. 

When  General  Rosecrans,  on  October  24th,  1862, 
was  ordered  by  the  War  Department  to  relieve 
General  Buell  after  the  battle  of  Perry  ville,  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Ducat  accompanied  him  to  Bowling 
Green,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  as  Chief  of  Staff 
and  Assistant  Inspector-General  at  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  forces  afterwards  known  as  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  He  continued  to  act  as  Chief 
of  Staff  until  November  13,  1862,  when  he  was  re- 
lieved in  that  position  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  and 
Assistant  Adjutant-General  Julius  P.  Garesche.  To 
these  new  duties  Colonel  Ducat  brought  the  same 
qualities  of  activity,  courage  and  thoroughness 
which  had  distinguished  him  under  the  same  com- 
mander in  his  former  service. 

With  Chattanooga  as  its  objective  point,  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  rested  and  reorganized, 
marched  out  of  Nashville  to  meet  and  drive  back 
General  Bragg  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  Dec. 
31st,  1862.  After  the  occupancy  of  Murfreesboro 
there  occurred,  in  June,  1863,  the  nine  days'  cam- 
paign of  Tullahoma.  During  the  following  Septem- 
ber the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  called  upon 
to  perform  those  laborious,  strategic  marches  which 
finally  forced  the  abandonment  of  Chattanooga  by 
the  Confederate  Army  and  brought  on  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga.  For  brave  and  meritorious  conduct 
at  Chickamauga  he  was  honorably  mentioned  by 
General  Rosecrans  in  his  official  report  of  that  mo- 
mentous event,  as  a  "faithful  officer  —  brave,  prompt 
and  energetic  in  action." 


ihU'rtt.  115 

Officers  who  served  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land at  this  period  unite  in  saying  that  to  the 
energy  and  organizing  skill  of  Colonel  Ducat,  and 
to  his  active  example  of  fidelity,  was  due  in  large 
part  the  efficiency  of  the  grand  guard  and  outpost 
service  of  that  axmy.  It  can  be  added  that  the 
general  efficiency  and  discipline  of  the  same  army 
were  largely  advanced  by  the  able  and  consci- 
entious performance  of  his  duties  in  the  Inspector- 
General's  department. 

Upon  the  succession  of  Gen.  Thomas  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Colonel  Du- 
cat was  retained  on  duty  in  his  former  position, 
and  on  January  9th,  1864,  was  promoted  in  gen- 
eral orders  as  Inspector  General  of  the  department. 

Broken  in  health  by  the  fatigues  and  exposures 
of  the  previous  years,  Colonel  Ducat  found  himself 
no  longer  physically  able  to  bear  the  hardships  of 
active  service,  and,  resigning  his  commission,  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Chicago  in  February,  1864. 
From  that  time  to  the  moment  of  his  death,  Janu- 
ary 29th  of  the  present  year,  his  friends  and  fellow 
citizens  can  bear  testimony  to  his  high  character 
and  exemplary  conduct  in  every  relation  in  life. 
His  services  in  the  war  were  appropriately  recog- 
nized by  the  brevet  of  Brigadier-General  of  Vol- 
unteers. 

The  Commandery  will  remember  him  as  its 
fourth  Commander,  and  remember  also  the  loving 
and  repeated  hospitality  with  which  he  welcomed 
his  companions  to  Ldndenwald,  his  beautiful  home 
at  Downer's  Grove.  Present  at  the  organization  of 
this  Commandery,  he  sympathized  with  all  its  as- 


116 

pirations,  all  its  joys  and  sorrows,  during  its  entire 
existence. 

In  concluding  this  brief  memorial  of  affection 
and  respect,  we  desire  to  place  upon  record  our 
deep  sense  of  the  loss  sustained  by  his  family,  by 
his  personal  friends,  and  by  our  Commandery,  in 
the  death  of  our  late  companion  and  friend. 
GEORGE    L.   PADDOCK, 
JOHN  M'ARTHUR, 
JOSEPH  B.  LEAKE, 
RICHARD  S.   TUTHILL, 
EPHRAIM  A.  OTIS, 

Committee. 

The  committee  of  the  Loyal  Legion  submit- 
ted the  foregoing  memorial  sketch  to  a  full 
meeting  of  the  Society,  and  it  was  adopted 
unanimously,  and  amid  many  expressions  of 
sorrow  by  individual  members.  The  mourn- 
ing in  that  body  of  old  soldiers  of  rank  was  sin- 
cere and  deep. 

Similar  action  to  that  taken  by  the  two  or- 
ganizations above  reported  was  likewise  had  in 
the  St.  Andrews  Society.  At  a  special  meet- 
ing of  the  Society,  called  for  the  purpose  of 
noticing  the  death  of  General  Ducat,  after  a 
preamble  setting  forth  the  fact  of  his  demise 
and  lamenting  its  suddenness,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted: 


117 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  General  A.  C. 
Ducat  this  Society  has  lost  one  of  its  old  and  val- 
uable members.  He  was  a  man  of  high  honor  and 
integrity,  combined  with  great  executive  ability. 
He  attained  a  leading  position  in  the  community 
and  especially  in  the  business  of  fire  insurance,  in 
which  he  was  conspicuously  engaged.  He  was 
born  of  Scotch  parents  in  the  city  of  Dublin,  Feb- 
ruary 24,  1830,  and  there  he  was  educated.  At  the 
age  of  20  he  came  to  this  city,  and  for  some  years 
was  engaged  as  civil  engineer  in  railroad  building 
in  the  vicinity.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  in 
1861,  he  was  among  the  first  to  enlist  in  the  army 
for  the  defense  of  the  union  of  his  adopted  coun- 
try. In  that  army  his  soldierly  qualities  and  great 
ability  soon  brought  him  to  the  front  in  important 
positions.  He  won  high  distinction,  but  was  com- 
pelled by  ill  health  to  leave  the  service  before  the 
war  closed.  Disease  contracted  in  the  service  lin- 
gered with  him  to  the  end.  And  thus  has  been 
added  another  life  lost  to  the  country  because  of 
the  war  to  maintain  inviolate  the  union  of  the 
States  as  a  legacy  to  all  coming  generations  of 
Americans. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  entered  on 
the  records  of  the  Society,  and  a  copy  of  them  be 
forwarded  by  the  secretary  to  the  widow  and  fam- 
ily of  the  deceased. 

JOHN  M'ARTHUR, 
JOHN  ALSTON, 
HUGH  RITCHIE, 

Committee. 

Chicago,  111.,  January  29,  1896. 


118 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


CONCLUSION. 

The  foregoing  chapters  contain  all  the  ma- 
terials toward  a  biography  of  General  Arthur 
Charles  Ducat  that  have  been  found  available 
for  the  purpose.  It  will  have  been  learned  by 
the  reader  that  the  most  of  his  military  papers 
were  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  1871.  Gen- 
eral Rosecrans  has  written  that  the  War  De- 
partment has  preserved  a  complete  record,  but 
recourse  could  not  well  be  had  to  that  quarter. 
Enough,  however,  is  given  in  this  account  of  a 
distinguished  and  useful  life  to  enable  his  rela- 
tives and'  friends  to  realize  what  kind  of  a  man 
he  was. 

His  business  successes  when  he  was  little 
more  than  a  youth  were  but  the  forecast  of  the 
greater  achievements  of  his  later  years.  A 
more  honorable  business  career  has  not  been 
run  in  the  vast  community  in  which  he  passed 
the  principal  part  of  his  life. 

In  the  army,  during  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, he  won  a  good  deal  of  fame,  but  did  not 
attain  to  the  rank  that  his  merits  and  achieve- 


119 

ments  entitled  him.  All  who  peruse  these 
pages  must  feel,  as  it  is  certain  General  Ducat 
himself  felt,  that  it  was  to  him,  personally, 
extremely  unfortunate  that  he  was  selected 
by  discriminating  commanders  to  do  staff 
and  inspection  duties  although,  as  Inspector- 
General  of  the  army  and  Commander  of  Grand 
Guards  and  outposts  he  rendered  invaluable 
services.  The  Grand  Guard  was  the  very  eye 
of  the  army  which  did  not  close  either  day  or 
night.  As  chief  of  staff  on  the  field  of  Cor- 
inth he  was  virtually  the  commander,  when  at 
points  remote  from  General  Rosecrans.  Upon 
a  not  less  responsible  duty  at  Chickamauga 
the  fate  of  the  army  more  than  once  seemed 
to  rest  on  what  report  he  should  make  to  his 
superior  officers.  He  appears  almost  never  to 
have  made  a  mistake.  The  weak  points  of  the 
enemy  he  was  quick  to  see  and  take  advantage 
of;  and  any  weak  places  in  the  Federal  lines  he 
was  sure  to  notice  and  promptly  to  strengthen 
them.  His  alertness  and  ready  determination 
were  observed  and  admired  by  everyone.  A 
writer  on  the  war,  who  was  himself  a  spectator 
at  the  battles  of  Corinth  and  Chickamauga, 
says:  "Ducat  was  early  distinguished  for  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  military  details,  his 


120 

organizing  powers  and  executive  ability,  that 
mastered  all  details  of  topography  and  the 
movement  of  hostile  armies."  These  quali- 
ties, together  with  others  of  a  social  nature, 
served  to  attach  to  him  able  men  in  many  of 
the  walks  of  life.  All  the  commanders  he  ever 
was  under,  or  who  were  in  position  to  observe 
him,  sought  his  acquaintance  and  friendship. 
To  support  this  assertion,  if  support  were  need- 
ed, the  following  letter  from  General  M.  C. 
Meigs,  of  the  United  States  Army,  should 
serve: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  August  11,  1888. 

My  Dear  General:  I  failed  to  recognize  this 
morning,  on  the  portico  of  St.  Matthew's  Church, 
in  the  well-rounded,  handsome  general  who  shook 
my  hand  and  gave  his  name  (I  caught  it  at  the 
moment  as  General  Carr),  the  athletic,  broad- 
shouldered,  thin-flanked  horseman  whom  I  have 
for  twenty-five  years  so  pleasantly  remembered  as 
Colonel  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  of  General  Rosecrans' 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  with  whom  I  had  such 
pleasant  and  agreeable  intercourse  at  Chatta- 
nooga in  1863. 

Puzzled  and  mortified  at  my  failure  to  recognize 
a  gentleman  who  accosted  me  in  a  friendly  man- 
ner, I  fear  my  response  was  not  so  hearty  as  I 
should  have  wished  to  make  it,  and  as  it  would 
have  been  had  I  caught  the  name  "Ducat." 

The  world,  I  judge,  has  gone  well  with  you, 


General.  I  hope  so,  and  so  believe,  from  your 
appearance  in  good  health  and  with  the  additional 
weight  which  comes  to  nearly  all  our  old  com- 
rades after  exchanging  the  outdoor  activity  of  the 
field  for  the  sedentary  habits  of  peace.  I  truly 
hope  it  has  been  thus  with  you,  for  none  more 
richly  merit  a  happy  and  successful  career  than 
yourself. 

I  see  the  name  of  your  son  occasionally.  The 
only  communication  I  remember  to  have  had  with 
you  till  to-day,  in  the  quarter  of  a  century  since 
we  became  acquainted  in  the  beleaguered  lines  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  was  in  reference  to 
his  application  for  a  cadetship.  I  pray  that  the 
son  may  emulate  the  virtues  of  the  father,  in  case 
we  may  have  occasion  to  defend  our  country's 
rights  again  on  the  stricken  field. 

When  Grant  came  to  us,  how  well,  with  Sheri- 
dan, who,  alas!  we  buried  to-day,  and  Sherman, 
who,  thank  God,  is  still  with  us,  did  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland  do  its  part  in  the  dispersion  of 
the  enemy  under  whose  insulting  guns  we  lay  so 
long! 

I  hope  we  may  meet  again  in  a  shorter  interval 
than  the  last.  With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  friend, 
M.  C.  MEIGS,  U.  S.  A. 

General  Arthur  C.  Ducat. 

Other  letters  of  a  similar  tenor  might  be 
introduced,  but  this  memoir  is  now  finished. 
It  is  hoped  that  his  relatives  and  friends,  and 


122 

any  others  amongst  possible  readers,  who 
knew  General  Arthur  Charles  Ducat  at  all  well, 
may  be  able  to  recognize  in  its  pages  true  indi- 
cations of  his  intellectual  and  moral  strength; 
and  to  realize,  now  that  he  is  dead,  as  they 
surely  did  while  he  lived,  that  his  was  a  strong 
upright  character,  and  that  he  was  in  very  truth 
a  Christian  gentleman. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


MEMOIR  OF  GEN.  A.  C.  DUCAT.  CHGO 


